LIBRARY  Of  PRINCETON 


JUL  I  0  2002 


•J 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


BX9178.R67    CSV    1898 

Rossiter,    S.    B. 

Curler's  sermons  :  preached 

before  the  Grand  national 

curling 

club  / 


Curler's  Sermons 


PREACHED  BEFORE  THE 

GRAND  NATIONAL  CURLING  CLUB 


BY   THE   CHAPLAIN 

REV.  S.  B.  ROSSITER,  D.D. 


AT   THE 

NORTH    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH 

Cor.  Ninth  Ave.  and  31st  St.,  N.  Y.  City 


NEW  YORK 
BoNNELL,  Silver  & 
24  W.  22d  Street 
1898 


:o. 


LIBRARY  OF  PRIMCET 


JUN      3   20{ 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMiN 


COPYRIGHTED 

BONNELL,    SILVER   &   CO. 

1898 


Prrss  op 
E.  Scott  Co. 
New  York,.. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Sermon  i.      Christianity  and    Curling. 

I  Cor.  ix:  25.    January  21st,  1894         7 


Sermon  2.     The  Game  of  Life.     I  Cor. 

ix:  24.    January  20th,  1895    -    -        29 

Sermon  3.  A  Great  Player  in  Life's 
Bonspiel.  I  Cor.  ix:  2(),  January 
19th,  1896     -------        53 

Sermon  4.  Fine  Points  in  the  Game 
of  Life.  Lev.  xix:  18.  January 
loth,  1897      -------        71 

Sermon  5.     Theology  of  Curling.    Rom. 

ix:  16.    January  1 6th,  1898    -    -        93 


Christianity  and  Curling 

1  Cor.  ix:  25 


January  21st,  1894 


Christianity  and  Curling. 

"And  every  man  that  striveth  for  the  mastery  is 
temperate  in  all  things.  Now  they  do  /'/  to  obtain  a 
corruptible  crown,  but  we  an  incorruptible." — 
I  Cor,  ix:  25. 

Read— 

I  Cor.  ix:  24-27. 
Phil,  iii:  13,  14, 

II  Tim.  iv:  7,  8. 
Heb.  xii:  i. 

I  have  read  these  passages  in  your  hearing 
to  show  that  the  Apostle  Paul  used  the 
athletic  games,  popular  in  his  day,  to  illus- 
trate things  vital  in  the  Christian  experience. 
Is  not  this  example  of  the  apostle's  a  suffi- 
cient warrant  for  me  to  use,  as  the  Holy 
Spirit  shall  dictate,  a  popular  athletic  game 
of  our  day  to  illustrate  the  same  theme  ? 
For  that  reason  I  have  chosen  as  the  subject 
of  my  discourse  this  morning  ''  Christianity 
and  Curling,"  the  athletic  game  popular 
among  you,  and  one  more  free  from  objec- 
tionable features  than  any  other  athletic 
game  played  on  green  fields  or  keen  ice. 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


Let  me  remind  you  then,  in  the  first  place, 
that  Life  is  a  contest.  We  are  bom  into  a 
world  of  combatant  interests.  Good  and 
evil  are  striving  for  the  mastery,  and  sooner 
or  later  we  range  ourselves  with  one  party 
or  the  other.  Even  growth  is  a  struggle  of 
our  vitality  against  noxious  influences  and 
unwholesome  conditions.  Business  is  a  com- 
petition; livelihood  is  a  stem  fight  to  dig  our 
food  out  of  a  hard  soil,  or  to  wrest  it  from 
the  hands  of  men  loth  to  give  up  a  part  of 
their  surplusage. 

Public  position  has  to  be  achieved  by 
strength  of  character,  ability  and  work. 
There  is  plenty  of  room  at  the  top,  but  how 
few  succeed  in  getting  to  the  top;  and  the 
lower  walks  are  crowded  with  an  eager, 
jostling  multitude,  and  it  seems,  sometimes, 
as  though  life  were  the  mad  desire  of  every- 
one to  get  upon  the  shoulders  of  some  one 
else. 

And  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  we  live 
this  life,  and  fight  this  battle,  surrounded  by 
an  atmosphere  of  cloud  and  mystery.    The 

lO 


CHRI&TIANITV    AND    CURLING. 


sense  of  need  of  some  divine  help  and  guid- 
ance is  very  strong.  Conscience  strikes  like 
an  alarm  bell  in  the  soul.  Reason  peers 
anxiously  into  the  great  unknown  to  distin- 
gfuish  any  guiding  lights.  A  fearful  dread 
of  falling  into  naught,  in  every  human  heart, 
is  older  than  the  old  stoic  who  first  confessed 
it,  and  yet  what  traveller  has  ever  returned 
from  the  undiscovered  country  to  tell  us  of 
its  secrets. 

If  life  be  compared  to  a  race,  we  run  with 
uncertainty  of  the  goal  and  the  reward, 
unless  some  clear  voice  out  of  the  eternities 
speak  of  the  crown  and  the  applause. 

We  fight  our  battle  with  inward  apprehen- 
sion, which  of  itself  contributes  to  our 
weakness,  unless  some  clear  voice  promises 
aid  and  victory. 

We  fling  our  curling  stone  into  the  fog 
unless  we  hear  some  authoritative  voice 
speaking  from  the  Heavenly  Tee,  Come  this 
way.  Ah!  no  greater  mistake  can  a  man 
make  than  attempt  to  live  this  earthly  life, 
run    this    earthly    race,   fight    this   earthly 

II 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


battle,  play  with  all  the  ardor  and  enthusiasm 
of  his  nature  his  life  game,  and  seek  not  to 
fortify  his  soul  with  well  grounded  convic- 
tions of  immortality,  train  his  eye  to  see, 
far  off,  the  flashing  battlements  of  the  New 
Jerusalem;  train  his  ear  to  hear  the  calling 
of  the  clear  voice  that  is  always  speaking  to 
men;  and  keep  his  heart  fixed  upon  the 
thought  of  lying  at  last  within  the  great 
circles  of  glory,  and  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
Home  Tee. 

Brethren  and  friends,  a  man's  life  without 
Jesus  Christ  is  like  a  branch  severed  from 
the  vine  trying  to  support  itself  by  drawing 
nourishment  from  itself;  it  is  like  a  ship 
sailing  unknown  seas,  without  chart  or  com- 
pass, taking  its  direction  from  the  waves 
that  curl  their  white  crests  at  the  bow;  and 
is  like  a  curling  stone  flung  anywhere,  and 
shooting  zig  zag  over  a  wide  field  of  ice. 

I  pray  you  remember,  in  your  work,  in 
your  contests,  and  your  lawful  ambitions,  the 
words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  Apart  from  Me,  ye 
can  do  nothing. 


12 


CHRISTIANITY    AND    CURLING. 


Let  me  remind  you,  in  the  second  place,  of 
the  men  who  fail,  or  in  the  language  of  your 
game,  the  men  who  hog,  for  not  to  get 
three-quarters  way  across  the  field  I  construe 
to  be  a  failure. 

I  sympathize  with  the  men  who  make  a 
failure  out  of  life,  and  there  are  thousands 
of  them  in  this  city  this  morning,  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  them  over  all  this  broad  land  ! 
Men  who  cannot  get  along  somehow;  who 
have  no  luck,or  luck  is  against  them ;  who  fight 
a  hopeless  battle;  who  do  the  best  they  can, 
and  yet  are  sinking  in  the  social  scale;  some- 
thing adverse  is  always  happening;  burdened 
with  constitutions  not  sufficiently  vitalized, 
cursed  with  uncontrollable  appetites;  given 
a  too  pliant  disposition;  good-hearted,  but 
weak-minded,  or  what  is  worse,  weak-willed; 
who  shall  say  that  these  men  are  not  more 
sinned  against  than  sinning;  who  shall  say 
their  disadvantages  are  not  greater  than 
their  advantages;  who  shall  say  that  in  some 
way  they  are  not  the  descendants  of  Cain, 
who  in  an  awful  hour  of  self-consciousness, 

13 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


cried,  My  burden  is  greater  than  I  can 
bear. 

Do  you  ask  me  why  men  fail  in  the  game 
on  ice  ?  Because  of  indifference  for  one 
thing;  because  of  miscalculation  of  force 
necessary  to  reach  the  goal  for  another 
thing;  because  of  bad  aim;  because  of  a  slip 
at  the  start;  because  they  do  not  receive  the 
help  they  need  from  brother  men. 

And  is  it  not  so  in  that  larger,  more 
important  contest,  of  which,  your  game  for 
the  nonce,  is  an  illustration  ? 

The  man  who  thinks  life  is  a  holiday,  who 
unfortunately  is  heir  of  great  wealth,  and 
lives  on  the  impetus  his  father  gave  him, 
and  expects  to  reach  the  end  of  life  without 
putting  forth  any  effort  of  his  own;  or  the 
man  who  allows  himself  to  treat  all  things 
as  a  huge  joke,  and  never  bulges  his  muscle, 
and  fills  his  lungs,  and  nerves  his  heart,  and 
takes  hold  with  both  hands  upon  some  wrong 
that  needs  to  be  righted,  or  some  good  that 
needs  to  be  advanced,  will  never  reach  the 
middle  line;  will  lie  in  the  way  of  others,  and 

14 


CHRISTIANITY    AND    CURLING. 


when,  at  the  day's  close,  the  players  are 
going  home,  with  besoms  over  their  shoulders, 
exultant  and  triumphant,  they  will  lie  neg- 
lected and  solitary  on  the  desolate  ice. 

So,  too,  many  a  man  miscalculates  the 
distance  between  here  and  Heaven;  forgets 
that  friction  accompanies  every  running 
stone,  that  it  increases  in  progressive  ratio 
as  motion  is  slowed  down;  forgets  that  the 
tendency  of  things  is  to  glue  a  man  to  the 
present  perishable  world;  forgets,  especially, 
that  in  the  great  game  of  which  we  are  now 
speaking,  the  whole  man  must  be  put  into 
the  effort,  as  Paul  says,  body,  soul  and  spirit. 

So,  too,  many  a  man  aims  wrong  at  the 
start,  does  not  run  his  eye  along  the  central 
line  of  righteousness  and  keep  well  in  view 
the  golden  circles  around  the  Tee.  Many  a 
man  aims  at  character  as  salvation,  or  at  the 
supposed  kindly  judgment  of  God  as  salva- 
tion; you  might  as  well  aim  your  channel 
stone  at  Wee  Willie  standing  over  there  at 
the  right,  or  at  Sandy  Ne'er-do-weel  standing 
over  their  on  the  left,  and  hope  to  reach  the 

15 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


Tee,  right  straight  hi  front  and  far  away,  as 
to  hope  to  reach  the  Great  Goal  of  perfect 
salvation  in  any  other  way  than  aiming 
straight  at  Him,  who  said,  ''  Come  unto  Me!" 
"Believe  on  Me ! "  *' Ye  shall  have  eternal  life. " 

So,  too,  many  a  man  makes  a  slip  at  the 
start.  His  feet  are  not  well  planted  at  the 
beginning;  some  feebleness  of  muscle,  some 
obstacle  at  the  start,  some  perfectly  unex- 
plicable  thing,  causes  him  to  stumble.  He 
loses  his  throw,  misdirects  the  energy  of  his 
life,  and  no  after  effort  can  retrieve  the 
mistake. 

Oh!  that  is  one  of  the  awful  things  about 
our  present  life,  that  we  cannot  overtake  the 
consequences  of  an  act  and  smother  them . 
For  an  act  of  yours  is  very  much  like  a  stone 
that  has  left  the  hand,  it  can  not  be  taken 
back,  it  can  not  be  redirected;  on  it  glides 
for  weal  or  woe  till  it  finds  its  resting  place. 

Where  is  the  resting  place  of  consequences  t 
Did  you  ever  inquire  ?  Your  stone  will 
come  to  a  stand  still,  but  when  and  where 
will    consequences   come   to  a   stand  still  ? 

i6 


CHRISTIANITY    AND    CURLING. 


Where  ?  but  in  the  bosom  of  Jesus  Christ, 
who  bore  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree. 
Thank  God,  you,  who  had  praying  fathers 
and  mothers,  for  that,  I  understand,  is  getting 
your  feet  well  planted  at  the  start.  Thank 
God,  you,  who  had  Christian  training;  the 
Psalms  of  David,  the  catechism  and  church- 
going  habits,  and  reverence  for  God's  day 
and  God's  word,  for  that,  I  understand,  is 
looking  straight  ahead.  Thank  God,  you, 
who  to  your  own  life  powers  have  added  the 
power  of  Jesus,  for  that,  I  understand,  is  to 
give  your  whole  energy,  in  strength  lines, 
right  for  the  Tee.  Thank  God,  you  who 
have  found  Christ  to  be  a  sin  atoning  Saviour 
and  are  able  to  say, 

The  mistakes  of  my  life  have  been  many, 
The  sins  of  my  heart  have  been  more; 

But  I  cast  myself  upon  Jesus, 
And  trust  in  His  saving  Power. 

And  many  men  fail  because  they  do  not 
get  the  help  they  need  from  brother  men.  I 
want  to  linger  here  a  moment  on  the  need  of 

17 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


brotherly  helpfulness.  Your  game  of  curling 
furnishes  a  most  beautiful  and  instructive 
illustration  of  helpfulness.  Your  sweeping 
department  is  surely  a  department  of  help- 
fulness. 

And  the  several  rules  that  govern  this 
department  afford  us  many  significant  lessons 
in  this  direction. 

It  is  a  rule  of  your  game  that  each  player 
come  provided  with  his  own  besom,  or  imple- 
ment of  helpfulness.  And  God  has  furnished 
us  implements  of  helpfulness  which,  if  used 
aright,  will  make  our  own  life  cheerful  and 
other  people's  glad;  but  in  bad  spirit,in  selfish, 
grasping  spirit,  we  have  converted  them  into 
implements  of  destruction.  God  provided 
you  with  an  open  palm,  symbol  of  generosity, 
friendliness,  helpfulness;  we  have  converted 
it  into  a  closed  fist,  closing  tightly  over  our 
money.  God  gave  us  a  brain  to  think,  to 
plan,  to  enlarge,  and  man's  mind  is  at  its 
best  and  sweetest  when  it  is  thinking  and 
planning  for  others,  but  we  have  converted  it 
into  a  thought-box,   in  which  we   scheme 

i8 


CHRISTIANITY    AND    CURLING. 


and  plot  for  our  own  aggrandizement  and 
others  harm.  God  gave  us  a  double  lobed 
heart,  out  of  which  were  to  flow  affections, 
sympathies,  kindnesses,  and  the  heart  is 
healthy  and  happy  when  pouring  out  of  its 
wealth  upon  others;  but  we  have  made  it  a 
place  of  curdled  affections,  jealousies,  envies, 
and  bitterness.  I  plead  with  myself  and 
with  you  all  to-day,  for  right  thinking,  right 
heart  action,  large  vision,  outstretched  arms. 
Let  us  use  the  implements  of  usefulness 
furnished  us  by  God  in  the  work  for  which 
they  were  intended  and  adapted.  I  plead  for 
kind.  Christian,  generous  words,  even  to  the 
tramp,  and  the  prodigal,  and  the  beaten  one. 

I  plead  for  sympathy  for  the  sad,  the  dis- 
couraged, the  downhearted.  I  plead  for 
honest  help,  such  as  one  man  can  give  an- 
other and  not  make  him  ashamed  of  his  man- 
hood and  his  poverty.  Now  there  never  was 
a  better  opportunity  for  all  manly  Christian 
kindness  than  in  our  own  city  and  this  dark 
winter  of  '93  and  '94. 

Another  rule  of  your  game  is  that  sweep- 

19 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


ing  shall  commence  after  the  stone  has 
passed  the  middle  line,  or  in  other  words, 
that  helpfulness  shall  commence  when  re- 
sponsibility begins,  or  when  need  first  shows 
itself,  or  when  danger  begins  to  threaten.  I 
wish  the  rule  of  your  game  could  become  the 
law  of  life  for  every  one  of  us,  to  plant  our 
helpfulness  at  the  point  where  it  is  first 
needed.  That  is,  the  point  in  a  man's  life 
that  needs  especially  to  be  guarded,  the 
moment  of  first  want,  first  temptation,  first 
declination  from  the  straight  path,  first  gloom 
of  doubt,  first  heart  failure.  Care  for  the 
homeless  boys  and  girls;  for  those  who,  be- 
cause of  humble  condition  in  the  home,  are 
handicapped  in  the  race  of  life;  for  the  youth 
who  are  longing  for  a  word  of  honest  counsel, 
or  a  foothold  in  the  great  business  world. 
Do  not  hang  too  long  upon  the  industries  of 
the  world,  but  when  you  have  made  your 
snug  sum,  give  yourself  to  the  amenities  and 
charities  of  life,  and  give  some  one  else  a 
chance  in  the  struggle  and  the  reward. 
I  pray  you  speak  the  word  of  warning  to 

20 


CHRISTIANITY    AND    CURLING. 


the  young  man  who  is  taking  his  first  cup  of 
wine,  and  is  feeling  the  fascination  of  gay 
society  and  the  social  folly.  Speak  right  out 
to  your  brother  man,  who  needs  the  shock  of 
your  just  reproof,  or  the  tonic  of  your  strong 
commendation.  Help  a  fallen  brother  rise. 
Let  him  lean  upon  your  arm  over  the  hard 
bit  of  road.  Suffuse  the  atmosphere  with 
your  spirit  of  helpfulness. 

Another  rule  of  your  game  is,  not  to  im- 
properly speak  to,  taunt,  or  interrupt  another 
while  in  the  act  of  delivering  his  stone.  Oh ! 
these  words  have  an  immense  significance, 
using  your  game  as  a  symbol  of  true  life. 
Nothing  men  are  so  sensitive  to  as  a  sneer, 
a  mocking  laughter.  A  man  would  rather 
face  musketry  than  that,  because,  for  one 
thing,  a  sneer  is  so  hard  to  meet,  and  laugh- 
ter is  so  hard  to  check,  and  a  taunt  is  sharper 
than  a  spear  thrust;  and  because,  for  a 
second  thing,  you  have  to  lower  your  own 
manhood  to  meet  it  on  its  own  debased  field. 

I  have  seen  sweet,  innocent,  simple-minded 
righteousness  killed  as  by  a  stab,  because  of 

21 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


a  laugh  or  a  jeer.  Peter  was  led  to  deny  his 
Lord  because  of  the  laugh  of  a  servant  girl. 

Men  are  kept  from  confession  of  faith  in 
Christ  because  they  dread  the  ridicule  of 
their  old-time  boon  companions.  Let  a  man 
deliver  his  stone  as  best  he  can;  do  not  dis- 
tract his  mind,  or  shake  his  nerve  by  shout 
or  interruption.  He  is  playing  for  eternity, 
and  a  little  trembling  of  the  nerve  at  the 
moment  of  the  stone  separating  from  the 
hand,  will  cause  him  to  miss  the  glorious 
circles  around  the  Home  Tee.  Oh!  I  tell 
you  words  are  things;  a  laugh  that  seems  to 
be  but  a  little  shiver  of  the  air,  is  lead  weight 
when  it  strikes  the  heart;  a  taunt  that  seems 
but  a  keen  glance  of  wit,  is  a  stilletto  when 
it  reaches  the  heart.  Oh!  of  all  things  in 
your  care,  you  need  watchfully  and  kindly 
to  use  your  power  of  words. 

Another  of  your  rules  is,  no  sweepings  to 
be  moved  forward  and  left  in  front  of  a  run- 
ning stone,  so  as  to  stop,  or  obstruct  its 
course.  Oftentims  the  best  way  to  help  a 
man  is  not  to  hinder  him.     Let  him  run;  he 

22 


CHRISTIANITY    AND    CURLING. 


is  honest,  he  is  ambitious,  his  head  is  up,  he 
is  working  hard,  he  is  getting  ahead  of  you, 
who  are  working  just  as  hard  as  he,  but 
somehow  he  is  gaining  on  you.  Do  not  envy 
him,  cheer  him.  Do  not  shake  your  head 
and  say:  Ah,  I  could  if  I  would;  and  thus  fill 
the  air  with  surmizes.  Protect  the  reputa- 
tion of  men,  for  reputation  is  the  immediate 
jewel  of  a  man's  soul.  Rejoice  in  a  brother's 
success.  Let  his  success  be  a  stimulus  to 
you  for  new  and  greater  endeavor.  Put  no 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  brother.  Do  not 
hinder.  Do  not  impede.  You  are  not 
greater  because  you  stop  him,  but  smaller. 
Life  is  crowded,  but  there  is  room  for  us. 
Give  me  the  charity  of  the  13th  of  Cor.,  and 
though  my  home  be  a  cabin,  and  my  food  the 
bare  necessaries  of  life,  I  can  have  sweet 
content  and  the  blessing  of  God.  Oh!  may 
God  give  us  all  this  large,  royal,  free-handed 
helpfulness.  Let  my  own  soul  be  the  forfeit, 
if  I  intentionally  hinder  a  man  from  reaching 
the  Heavenly  Tee. 

Let  me  remind  you,  as  a  last  thought,  there 

23 


SERMONS   TO    CURLERS. 


is  the  great  adjudication.  The  game  has  an 
end.  The  contest  draws  to  a  close.  The 
moment  comes  when  there  is  the  last  throw, 
the  last  heart  beat,  the  last  word,  the  last 
act,  and  you  and  I  pass  to  hear  the  verdict 
upon  our  life's  course.  We  all  must  stand  at 
the  judgment  seat  of  Christ  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body. 

I  would  not  strain  analogy,  but  is  not  this 
rule  of  your  game  at  least  suggestive  as  to 
where  you  shall  lie  in  regard  to  the  goal. 
All  measurement  is  to  be  taken  from  the 
centre  of  the  Tee,  to  the  part  of  the  stone 
that  is  nearest  to  it.  There  are  two  parts  to 
that  thought  I  want  you  to  notice.  Measure- 
ment from  the  centre  of  the  Tee,  not  from 
anywhere  on  the  field,  nor  from  another. 
Are  you  flattering  yourselves  that  you  are  to 
be  judged  by  the  standard  of  righteousness 
you  set  up  for  yourselves,  and  by  the  conduct 
of  some  other  man  ?  Are  you  ever  excusing 
your  own  faults  because  you  see  inconsisten- 
cies in  others.  Oh !  folly  of  men !  Do  you 
measure  the  distances  between  the  stones 

24 


CHRISTIANITY    AND    CURLING. 


that  lie  in  the  circles  to  see  where  you  lie  in 
respect  to  the  centre  Tee.  No!  No!  You 
measure  from  the  center  of  the  Tee.  You 
are  not  to  be  judged  by  your  own  idea  of 
righteousness,  nor  by  the  obliquities  of  other 
men;  you  are  to  be  judged  according  to  your 
nearness,  or  remoteness  to  Him,  who  is  the 
brightness  of  the  Father's  glory  and  the  ex- 
press image  of  His  person.  Behold  the  man, 
said  Pilate,  of  Jesus,  coming  down  the  steps 
of  the  Roman  Government  House  Behold 
the  man,  the  ages  have  echoed  ever  since. 
Get  near  to  Jesus,  in  feeling,  in  faith,  in 
character,  and  you  are  near  the  centre  of  the 
Tee. 

Notice  also,  measurement  is  made  to  the 
part  of  the  stone  that  is  nearest  to  the  Tee. 
I  see  the  mercy  of  God  in  that.  God  takes  a 
man  at  his  best  and  not  at  his  worst,  not 
even  at  his  average.  We  are  such  queer 
compounds,  that  in  one  part  of  us  we  may  be 
very  good,  and  in  another  part  of  us  very 
bad.  How  many  men,  of  good  heart,  but 
weak  will;  hard  in  money  dealing,  but  kind 

25 


SERMONS   TO    CURLERS. 


to  the  poor;  quick  in  speech,  but  sorry  a 
moment  afterward;  evil  in  many  ways,  but  a 
spot  of  true,  genuine  manhood  hid  away 
somewhere. 

Let  us  hope,  in  the  final  measurement,  that 
the  measurement  will  be  to  the  best  there  is 
in  man,  for  the  best  there  is  in  man,  is  the 
part  that  is  nearest  to  God. 

Another  rule  is,  no  stone  shall  be  con- 
sidered within  a  circle,  unless  it  clear  it,  and 
half  way  in  the  world  and  half  way  in  the 
Kingdom  will  not  do.  A  preponderance  of 
your  total  self  must  be  in  the  Kingdom. 
Almost,  but  not  altogether,  is  to  fail.  Near 
the  kingdom  is  not  in  the  kingdom.  I  say 
my  last  word  to  you  this  morning,  when  I 
urge  you  a  full-hearted  acceptance  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  only  way  of  salva- 
tion provided  for  a  lost  world.  Over  the  line: 
that  is  the  point.  Within  the  circle!  Every 
one  of  us  must  come  into  well  understood 
relations  with  Jesus,  and  that  ought  to  be 
done  to-day.  Procrastination  is  like  coming 
onto  the  ice  after  the  game  is  finished.     In- 

26 


CHRISTIANITY    AND   CURLING. 


decision  is  like  hurling  your  stone  with  your 
eyes  shut,  and  you  do  not  know  whether  it 
will  lie  within  the  circles,  or  go  spinning  on 
beyond  the  Tee,  away  from  God  and  on 
towards  the  eternal  darkness.  With  a  clear 
mind,  a  steady  heart,  and  with  faith  in  Jesus, 
throw  your  life  forward  towards  the  goal. 
You  shall  not  miss;  you  shall  win  it.  You 
shall  lie  within  the  golden  circles.  Brothers 
will  be  there  to  greet  you.  Hands  you  have 
helped  will  be  stretched  out  to  welcome  you. 
The  highest,  most  exhilarant  moment  of  your 
life  on  earth  will  be  but  as  a  sip  to  the  full 
and  ecstatic  moment  when  you  feel  yourself 
safe  in  the  eternal  Home.  Do  not  fail, 
friends,  of  that  great  reward. 


27 


The  Game  of  Life 

I  Cor.  ix;  25 


January  20th,  1895 


The  Game  of  Life. 

•'  Know  ye  not  that  they  which  run  in  a  race,  run 
all,  but  one  receiveth  a  prize?  Even  so  run,  that  ye 
may  obtain." — I  Cor.  ix:  24. 

Or,  if  Paul  were  living  in  these  days,  he 
would  say; 

Know  ye  not  that  they  which  play  the 
game  of  Curling,  play  all,  but  one  receiveth 
the  prize  ?  Even  so  in  the  game  of  life;  so 
play,  that  ye  shall  receive  the  prize. 

I  call  this  sermon  "  The  Game  of  Life," 
not  that  I  think  that  life  is  a  holiday  time,  or 
a  game  on  the  ice,  or  in  the  field.  No,  life 
is  a  very  serious  thing,  and  it  can  be  made  to 
be,  by  each  of  us,  a  still  more  serious  thing  if 
we  do  not  play  it  properly. 

But  a  game  is  a  contest,  and  this  is  our 
first  point;  Life  is  a  contest.  This  is  so  from 
the  beginning.  The  boy  must  hold  his  own 
on  the  play  ground  and  in  the  class  room. 
The  young  man,  beginning  to  feel  the  stir  of 
the  great  world,  urged  out  from  the  chimney 
nook  by  the  necessities  of  life,  enters  at  once 
upon  an  arena,  and  he  must  do  his  best  to 

31 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


make  a  livelihood;  keep  his  head  up  among 
men.  Invariably  the  men  who  succeed  are 
the  men  who  are  up  and  at  it  early  in  the 
morning,  prompt,  faithful,  diligent,  doing 
more  than  is  required  of  them,  making  them- 
selves useful  and  indispensable  to  employers 
or  to  society.  The  world  has  but  little  use 
for  men  who  come  five  minutes  late  to  work, 
and  when  they  are  at  work  do  it  half-heart- 
edly, prompt  to  drop  hammer  and  lay 
aside  apron  when  the  whistle  blows.  They 
are  the  men  who  are  first  laid  off  when  slack 
times  come,  and  who  are  always  in  trouble 
and  in  debt.  A  man  must  have  a  contest 
with  himself  to  overcome  constitutional 
weaknesses;  points  of  diffidence  and  self- 
distrust,  and  be  his  best  at  any  moment 
of  life.  That  is  one  object  of  the  compe 
tition  of  life,  to  develop  in  us  an  all-around 
manhood. 

As  we  advance  farther  into  life  the  contest 
grows  sharper;  we  take  upon  ourselves  re- 
sponsibilities, we  become  sponsors  for  the 
lives  and  welfare  of  others.     Every  latent 

32 


THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 


ability,  every  particle  of  our  vitality,  every 
muscle  of  our  anatomy  is  brought  into  exer- 
cise, and  we  feel  we  are  in  the  thick  of  the 
strife.     Every    day    the   strife  is   renewed. 
Every  night  finds  us  encamped  on  the   field. 
New  difficulties  appear  at  every  hand.    As 
we  advance  further  into  life  we  find  impedi- 
ments in  the  way.     The   old  body  cannot 
bear  this  ceaseless  strain.     It  begins  to  give 
out.     We  find   ourselves  sick  for  the  first 
time,  and  then  we  continue  the  fight  with  an 
enemy  within  the  stronghold.     Cares    and 
sorrows  come  to  us  that  break  the  spirit  and 
loosen  our  grasp  upon  the  things  around  us; 
senses  begin  to  fail,  and  then  it  becomes  a 
question  if  we  can  hold  our  place  against 
younger  men  pushing  to  the  front.    They  are 
feeling  all  the  push  of  necessity  and  ambi- 
tion.   They  are  where  you  were  once,  trying 
to  get  a  foothold,  and  you  are  clinging  with 
desperate  tenacity  to  your  place  for  the  sake 
of  the  family  yet  dependent  upon  you.     At 
last  comes  death,  and  the  old  man  is  borne  to 
the  grave  by  the  comrades  that  are  left  in 

33 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


the  field  and  by  younger  men  who  have 
learned  to  honor  and  admire  the  veteran. 
And  it  seems  to  me  in  the  new  industrial 
brotherhoods  that  are  arising  in  this  age  of 
the  world,  these  facts  ought  to  be  more  dis- 
tinctly recognized  and  provided  for,  and  old 
age,  with  its  necessary  helplessness,  ought 
not  to  be  considered  as  the  most  undesirable 
portion  of  life;  and  the  old  man  not  feel 
himself  to  be  an  encumbrance  and  in  the 
way;  but  old  age  should  be  considered  the 
time  of  glory,  of  honor  after  long  toil  and 
fight;  of  more  careful  attention  and  ministry. 
Brotherhoods  should  take  care  of  the  veterans 
and  convert  the  competition  of  life  into  en- 
deavor to  shield  and  care  for  the  aged. 

Again:  A  game  is  a  contest  for  a  prize, 
and  this  is  our  second  point,  Life  is  a  contest 
for  a  prize.  And  here  we  begin  to  see  what 
life  is;  at  what  it  should  aim  and  what  is  the 
final  goal.  Can  you  find  in  anything  earthly 
a  prize  worthy  of  your  immortal  self  and 
that  self  given  out  in  all  its  excellence  and 
power  ?    I  bring  you   face   to   face   with   a 

34 


THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 


question  which,  if  answered  rightly,  would 
determine  your  methods  of  life  and  the 
quality  of  your  character.  Is  wealth  a  suffi- 
cient prize  for  you  to  seek  with  all  your 
might  ?  Would  you  be  willing  to  lose  etern- 
ity for  the  sake  of  unlimited  gold  ?  Is  politi- 
cal honor  reward  sufficient  to  satisfy  your 
immortal  thirst  ?  Is  the  history  of  the  men 
whom  this  country  has  feted  and  feasted  and 
decorated  with  plumes  and  plaudits  of  a  kind 
to  make  you  willing  to  give  up  all  hope  of 
hereafter  for  it  ?  Oh!  any  sensible  man  with 
a  mind  and  a  conscience  and  thirst  for  immor- 
tality within  him,  will  answer  these  questions 
soon  enough.  Earth's  rewards,  earth's  honors, 
desirable  as  they  are  in  themselves,  and 
having  their  use  and  place,  cannot  satisfy 
something  within  man  that  longs  for  infinite 
satisfaction.  A  blow  of  sorrow  will  make 
them  look  so  insignificant  and  dim;  a  false 
step  on  your  part  will  change  applause  into 
abuse,  and  a  bright  day  will  turn  on  the 
instant  into  fog  and  darkness  and  cold  east 
wind. 


35 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


For  that  reason  I  find  the  inducements 
which  the  word  of  God  brings  to  bear  upon 
us,  as  incentives  to  right  living,  more  con- 
genial to  our  tastes  and  adapted  to  our 
natures.  What  are  the  prizes  that  God  sets 
before  you  as  incentives  to  right  living  ? 

I.  A  Plaudit:  a  word  of  high  praise,  a 
cheer;  an  enthusiasm  as  of  many  voices. 
Some  men  find  their  highest  ambition  satis- 
fied if  they  can  be  greeted  with  cheers  and 
live  in  the  applause  of  the  people. 

You  know  how  it  is  on  the  ice  when  the 
game  stands  even  and  the  final  shot  is  to  de- 
cide who  is  the  winner.  Oh!  how  intent  are 
all  the  watchers  around  the  Tee;  with  what 
care  and  bracing  of  the  nerves  do  you  pre- 
pare for  the  last  shot;  how  careful  your  aim. 
A  look  at  the  skip  to  see  what  )^ou  are  to  do 
and  where  the  stane  is  to  lie.  The  stane 
leaves  the  hand;  it  glides  along  the  smooth 
ice,  curling  outward  as  it  goes;  quick  and 
lively  the  brooms  do  their  work,  and  the 
well-aimed  stane  does  its  work  and  the  game 
is  yours.    What  burst  of  cheers!  what  shaking 

36 


THE    GAME   OF    LIFE. 


of  brooms!  what  congratulations  and  what 
good-natured  chafing!  and  best  of  all,  the 
skip  says:  "  Weel  played!  verra  weel 
played!" 

I  point  you  to  another  time  in  the  here- 
after. You  have  been  playing  a  life  game 
for  many  years.  You  have  kept  the  self  in 
sweet  subjection  to  the  will  of  God.  You 
have  followed  the  commands  of  honor  and 
manhood.  You  have  been  brave  and  patient 
in  the  day  of  storm  and  adversity.  You 
have  put  aside  many  inducements  to  neglect 
duty,  religion  and  God.  But  you  have  held 
to  your  onward  and  upward  course,  and  you 
are  nearing  the  time  of  your  great  reward. 
You  approach  the  innumerable  company  of 
the  redeemed  who,  like  you,  have  played  the 
game  of  life  with  eternal  happiness  in  view, 
and  you  enter  the  presence  of  the  King  like  a 
stane  gliding  into  the  Tee,  and  oh,  the  great- 
ness and  the  gladness  of  the  moment!  Oh! 
the  shout  of  hallelujahs  from  million  throats! 
oh,  the  number  of  the  hands  stretched  forth 
to  greet  you — a  father's  hand,  a  mother's 

37 


SERMONS    TO   CURLERS. 


hand,  a  child's  hand;  but  best  of  all,  the 
plaudit  of  the  Master — "  Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of 
thy  Lord!" 

Another  prize  is  the  eternal  rest.  Not 
idleness,  mind  you,  but  the  beautiful  and  co- 
operative and  satisfied  interplay  of  all  your 
powers.  A  time  of  rest;  of  satisfaction;  of 
clear  understanding  and  of  praise. 

That  quiet  moment  at  the  close  of  the  day, 
after  the  evening  meal,  when  you  draw  up 
to  the  fire  for  chat  with  family  or  friends,  or 
going  over  the  affairs  of  the  day,  is  symbol 
of  it.  That  spell  of  rest  in  the  year's  busy 
circle  when  you  can  get  away  to  the  sea  side, 
or  the  country  side  in  the  summer  time,  and 
let  the  murmur  of  the  sea  into  your  soul,  and 
let  the  shining  of  the  stars  illuminate  your 
nature,  and  you  get  a  better  understanding 
of  life  and  its  duties — that  is  symbol  of  it. 
God  crowns  the  toil  and  the  struggle  of  life 
with  a  time  of  eternal  rest.  A  time  to  ask 
questions  if  you  are  not  satisfied ;  a  time  to 
mark    His  wondrous  dealings  with  you;  a 

38 


THE   GAME    OF    LIFE. 


time  to  see  things  that  you  never  saw  before; 
a  time  for  tuning  your  harp,  and  as  a  full 
disclosure  of  God's  gracious  providences  to 
you  sweep  over  you,  you  will  strike  your 
well-tuned  harp  and  raise  your  voice  in  praise 
to  Him  who  sitteth  upon  the  throne  and  unto 
the  Lamb  forever. 

Another  prize  is  the  immortal  crown. 
Paul  prized  that  reward  above  all  others. 
He  ever  lived  with  the  crown  in  view — an 
incorruptible  crown;  an  immortal  crown;  a 
crown  of  life.  I  banish,  by  a  word,  the 
mystery  that  hangs  between  the  visible  and 
the  invisible.  I  see  as  in  a  vision  the  innum- 
erable company  of  the  redeemed.  I  see  the 
faces  I  once  knew  and  loved.  They  are 
shining  with  celestial  radiance.  I  know 
them  again;  I  call  them  by  their  names. 
Some  I  knew  in  humble  homes,  in  sad  places, 
and  the  bed  of  death  was  not  a  bed  of  roses. 
Some  I  knew  in  hard  places,  in  great  tempta- 
tion, in  a  great  battle  with  self  and  evil. 
Some  I  knew  as  good  and  honest  and  friendly 
brother  men,  doing  their  duty  every  day  as 

39 


SERMONS   TO    CURLERS. 


God  showed  it  to  them.  Some  were  sweet, 
true  and  lovely  angel  spirits  inhabiting 
an  earthly  tabernacle,  but  they  all  wear 
crowns,  halos  of  glory;  each  one  portraying 
in  some  way  the  life  and  victories  of  each. 

And  we  here  will  be  wearing  crowns  some 
day.  We  shall  know  each  other  there.  Oh! 
is  it  not  worth  our  while  to  play  the  game  of 
life  as  best  we  can  with  such  a  reward  in 
view. 

Then  again,  a  game  is  a  contest  with  a 
prize  in  view,  but  it  must  be  played  according 
to  rules,  and  those  rules  are  drawn  up  in  the 
best  interest  of  all  concerned,  and  to  bring 
out  the  best  points  in  the  game  and'  the 
greatest  skill  in  the  player,  and  this  is  my 
third  point:  Life  is  such  a  game,  and  it  is 
played  for  a  prize;  played  according  to  rule, 
and  these  rules  drawn  up  in  the  interests  of 
the  game  and  the  contestants.  This  world 
was  all  right  as  God  made  it.  And  this 
world  will  come  out  all  right,  even  with  sin 
in  it,  as  God  overrules  it.  God  has  set  down 
rules  for    living.     He    has    set    up  limita- 

40 


THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 


tions.  He  has  established  prohibitions.  Men 
complain  about  this.  They  do  not  want 
rules,  they  say;  they  want  freedom  to  do  as 
they  please.  They  do  not  want  limitation, 
but  unrestricted  use  of  all  their  powers. 
They  do  not  want  prohibitions,  but  their  own 
sweet,  variable,  inconstant  evil  will.  Who 
is  right  about  this,  God  or  man  ?  The 
whole  matter  of  human  contentment  and 
human  happiness  and  best  progress  for 
the  race  lies  in  your  answer  to  that  question. 
Was  it  right  and  best  and  wise  for  God  to 
say  to  Adam,  One  tree  of  the  garden  thou 
shalt  not  eat  of;  if  so,  then  God-given  prohi- 
bitions are  wise.  And  if  we  do  not  respect 
them  we  are  sinners  like  unto  our  first 
parent.  Was  it  right  and  wise  in  God  to 
give  the  Ten  Commandments  ?  If  so,  then 
limitations  to  human  freedom  are  wise;  and 
if  we  do  not  stay  within  these,  we  are  sinners 
like  those  who  suffered  the  resentment  of  God 
in  the  wilderness.  Behold,  I  pray  you,  the 
wisdom  of  God  and  the  love  of  God  in  the 
restrictions  He  has  placed  upon  you  in  the 

41 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


rules  for  moral  conduct,  in  rules  for  daily 
guidance.  They  are  best  for  yourself  and 
certainly  best  for  all  concerned.  And  what 
are  some  of  the  rules  of  the  game  of  life  ? 

I.  Equality  as  regards  essential  manhood. 
Not  equality  as  to  physical  powers,  or  mental 
equipment,  a  social  position,  but  equality 
in  essential  manhood.  No  Curler  can  doubt 
or  dispute  that  rule.  One  of  the  chief  excel- 
lences of  the  game  is  that  you  meet  on  the 
level  field  of  ice;  different  in  stature;  differ- 
ent in  amount  of  worldly  possessions;  differ- 
ent in  regard  to  social  position,  but  your  feet 
are  on  the  same  level;  the  lord  and  the 
peasant  are  alike;  no  favors;  strength,  skill, 
brotherhood,  are  the  only  things  to  be 
considered. 

"  The  rank  is  but  the  guinea's  stamp, 
The  man's  the  gowd  for  a'  that." 

Take  that  thought  with  you  into  the  contest 
of  life,  and  let  the  poor  man  feel  his  self- 
respect  and  his  worth,  and  let  the  rich  man 
not  forget  the  plane  from  which  he  sprung, 

42 


THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 


and  let  the  titled  not  forget  that  earth's  dis- 
tinctions all  vanish  in  the  presence  of  the 
Holy  God. 

2.  Play  fair.  Now  you  see  the  reason  for 
rules  in  the  game,  and  that  is,  that  no  one 
take  an  unfair  advantage  of  another;  that  no 
one  presume  because  of  wealth,  or  ancestral 
titles,  over  another.  Rules  are  for  the  pur- 
pose of  guarding  essential  manhood,  honor- 
ing clear  grit  and  developing  the  strength  of 
muscle  and  keenness  of  eye.  Fair  play 
would  hardly  be  possible  were  it  not  for  the 
rules  of  the  game. 

Youbamsh  from  the  statute  books  the  %en 
Commandments  and  where  would  society  be 
in  one  year's  time  ?^  Take  away  all  restric- 
tions and  prohibitions,  and  we  could  not  find 
locks  and  bars  enough  to  keep  our  property.  ^ 
Oh!  that  men  would  see  this  clearly  as  they 
ought  to  see  it,  and  govern  themselves  by 
it,  in  business  and  in  fellowship  relations. 

3.  Respect  for  one  another's  rights  and 
privileges.  In  your  noble  game  of  Curling 
you  never  step  in  and  take  another's  turn  to 

43 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


play,  and  he  who  would  for  an  instant  take 
any  unfair  advantage  of  another  would  feel 
the  weight  of  the  brother's  scorn.  In  a  word 
he  is  the  beloved  man  among  you  who  loves 
the  game  for  the  game's  sake,  stands  on  a 
level  and  asks  no  favors  for  himself;  is 
scrupulously  careful  to  obey  the  rules,  and  is 
just  as  careful  to  maintain  an  opponent's 
privilege.  What  is  this  but  respecting  the 
personality  of  others  ?  As  the  Apostle  Paul 
says:  Look  not  every  man  on  his  own  things, 
but  also  on  the  things  of  others.  Respect 
the  ri^jvts  of  o^ers!  Yes,  and  regard  their 
.j^  weaknesses,   too.     And  you  will  have  more 

opportunities  to  exercise  such  regard  in  the 
game  of  life  than  you  have  in  the  game  of  curl- 
ing. Pity,charity,mercy,  must  be  brought  into 
exercise  in  the  great  competition  of  the  life 
game.  The  ice  is  not  more  slippery  under 
your  feet  than  the  place  where  many  of  our 
brethren  in  the  world  stand  and  have  to  play 
their  game.  You  know  what  a  step  means 
when  you  are  about  to  play  the  stane  ;  you 
know  what  a  flaw  in  the  ice  is  to  a  running 

44 


THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 


stane.  You  know  if  you  did  not  have  the 
help  of  the  brethren,  your  stane  would  never 
lie  within  the  circle  of  the  Tee.  Oh!  do 
not  these  things  emphasize  before  you  the 
necessity  of  fair  play  and  respect  of  another's 
personality  and  pity  for  weaknesses?  Never 
tempt  a  brother ;  never  let  another  tempt 
him  who  is  a  brother.  Never  let  the  exhil- 
aration of  victory  overcome  your  self-control. 
Keep  the  lips  unstained  of  oaths.  Keep  the 
idea  of  brotherhood  sweet  and  kindly.  Oh  ! 
in  all  your  life  contest  carry  with  you  the 
principles  that  control  you  on  the  ice. 

Again:  A  game  is  a  contest  for  a  prize, 
played  according  to  rules  and  under  the 
supervision  of  an  Umpire.  This  is  my 
fourth  point:  Life  is  a  contest;  a  contest  for 
a  prize;  a  contest  played  according  to  rules, 
and  under  the  supervision  of  an  Umpire.  I 
am  lifting  your  life,  my  brother,  up  inta 
grand  regions.  Life  is  run,  or  played,  or 
fought  under  the  gaze  of  the  All-seeing  Eye. 
Keep  that  thought  in  your  mind,  and  it  gives 
you  patience,  fortitude,  strength  and  cheer. 

45 


SERMOxVS    TO    CURLERS. 


Respect  the  personality  and  rulings  of  the 
Umpire.     God  must  be  to  you  more  than 
a  name  if  you  are  going  to  live  right  in  this 
world.     If  God  is,  as  He  is  represented  to  be, 
the  God  who  filleth  all  in  all;  the  enveloping 
God;  the  God  in  whom  we  live  and  move 
and  have  our  being,  then  we  are  more  foolish 
than   the   man   staring  up  at   the   sun   and 
denying  his  existence,  if  we  doubt  or  deny 
the  existence  of  God.     Do  you  respect  His 
will  ?  do  you  respect  His  day  ?  do  you  keep 
His  laws  ?  do  you  believe  in  His  Son?     How 
long  would  you  keep  in  your  company  a  man 
who  ignored  the   existence  of  the  Umpire 
and  disregarded  his  existence?    You  know 
you  would  not  play  with  such  a  man.     Be 
honest  now;  be  practical.     Do  you  recognize 
the  existence  of  the  great  Umpire,  or  do  you 
live  from  day  to  day  as  though  there  were 
no  God;  beginning  the  day  without  prayer; 
pursuing  your  vocations   only  with  an  eye 
on     self-aggrandizement,   and    ending     the 
day   in    scheming   and   folly?      God  is   the 
Umpire  of  the  game  of  your  life.     We  are 

46 


THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 


to  give  an   account   of  the   deeds   done  in 
the  body. 

Respect  also  the  decision  of  the  Umpire. 
What  is  a  decision  of  an  Umpire?  It  is  the 
interjection  of  his  human  judgment  and 
thought  in  upon  the  course  or  errors  of  a 
game.  That  judgment  may  be  founded  on  a 
clear  understanding  of  all  the  rules  and 
points  of  the  game,  or  upon  precedent  not  as 
yet  formulated  into  rule,  or  upon  the  clear 
seeing  into  the  exact  justice  of  the  position. 
In  the  progress  of  the  game  there  comes  an 
eager  moment;  a  point  to  be  decided;  heated 
and  excited  men  are  gathered  in  a  knot  and 
arguing  and  talking.  The  Umpire  seeing 
the  difficulty;  seeing  the  point  at  issue;  from 
his  knowledge  of  all  points  of  the  game;  or 
from  precedent,  or  from  clear  seeing  into  the 
exact  justice  of  the  case,  pronounces  judg- 
ment gives  decisions.  Do  you  see  what  that 
is?  The  interjection  of  higher  will  and  wisdom 
in  upon  your  controversies.  You  admit  that 
sort  of  thing;  you  submit  to  it;  you  forsake 
your  position;  you  govern  yourselves  accord- 

47 


SERMONS   TO    CURLERS. 


ingly.     I  pray  you  give  me  your  attention. 
Things  are  constantly  happening  in    your 
lives  that  cannot  be  brought  under  any  law 
you  know;  that  cannot  be  explained  by  all 
your  knowledge  of  what  things  ought  to  be 
or  ought  not  to  be.     Recall  only  the  exper- 
iences of  the  last  year  and  see  if  that  is  not 
so.     In  vain  you  will  ransack  your  own  mind, 
in  vain  you  seek  the  advice  of  friends  to  seek 
to  understand  the  strange  things  happening 
in  life.     Do  one  thing  more  my  friend.     Seek 
the  judgment  of  the  Umpire ;  listen  to  His 
voice  ;    let  His   decision  fall  in  upon  your 
turmoil  and  give  you  peace.     Let  His  word 
come  to  your  sorrowful  spirit  and  give  you 
resignation.     Do  you  believe  in   the  inter- 
position of  God  in   these  days?     I   do,   as 
clearly  as  in  the  days  when  He  was  in  the 
flesh  and  He  fed  the  five  thousand  with  five 
loaves  of  bread  and  stilled  the  waters  of 
stormy  Gennesareth.     And  interposition  is 
proof  of  God's  existence  and  of  His  kindly 
and  just  supervision  of  our  earthly  affairs. 
I  pray  you  in  points  in  life's  game  hard  to 

48 


THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 


decide  ;  in  experiences  hard  to  be  borne  ;  in 
rights  imperilled  and  in  wrongs  threatened, 
appeal  to  that  ear  that  heard  the  cry  of  the 
children  of  Israel  when  in  bondage  and  to 
that  eye  that  notes  the  sparrow's  fall,  and 
to  that  particular  knowledge  that  counts 
the  very  hairs  of  your  head. 

And  one  more  point  I  want  to  make  before 
I  dismiss  you  all,  and  that  is,  the  right  of  the 
one  who  gives  the  prize  to  add  any  rules  he 
pleases  to  the  already  well  acknowledged 
rules  of  the  game.  In  the  rules  for  special 
medals  we  find  this  section  :  "  The  donor 
shall  have  the  right  to  lay  down  additional 
rules,  if  it  be  found  that  the  established  rules 
are  not  sufficiently  explicit."  My  friends, 
Christianity  comes  in  under  that  section. 
From  the  very  beginning  of  human  existence 
there  have  been  more  than  rules  of  living* 
even  the  promise  of  one  to  come.  And  the 
best  life  is  the  life  that  has  been  filled  and 
inspired  by  faith  in  that  one  to  come.  The 
ten  commandments  are  not  sufficient  to  meet 
all  the  points  of  human  weakness  and  tempta- 

40 


SERMONS    TO   CURLERS. 


tions.  If  you  kept  all  the  moral  law  you 
would  be  but  a  moral  man.  God  wants  you 
to  be  more  than  a  moral  man.  He  has 
added  to  the  moral  law  the  last  and  great 
requirement,  "  Believe  in  my  Son."  Accord- 
ing to  your  own  section  you  concede  the 
justice  of  that  position.  The  donor  has  a 
right  to  lay  down  additional  rules  if  the  rules 
already  in  existence  be  not  sufficient.  To 
all  that  has  gone  before  in  the  Old  Testament 
God  has  laid  down  this  rule  in  the  New 
Testament,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved. "  I  do  not 
know  whether  you  all  here  this  morning 
have  adopted  this  last  rule  for  the  govern- 
ment of  your  life  games.  If  it  never  has 
been  clearly  before  you  previously,  I  pray 
you  recognize  it  now.  It  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  you  to  play  the  game  of  life 
so  as  to  please  the  donor.  You  must  adopt 
as  the  special  rule  of  your  lives,  belief  in 
his  son  Jesus  Christ. 

And  how  can  you  accept  Him  ? 

Accept  Him  as  He  is  set  forth  in  Scripture. 

SO 


THE    GAME   OF    LIFE. 


As  God  in  human  form. 

As  Saviour  dying  for  the  sins  of  men. 

As  Redeemer  who  carried  back  from  the 
grave  your  ransom. 

As  your  friend  and  brother  and  present 
help  in  every  time  of  need. 

I  need  not  argue  the  right  of  God  to  make 
that  rule.  You  acknowledge  that.  He  is 
the  donor  of  the  prize  of  the  crown  and  the 
eternal  rest.  I  do  plead  with  you  to  adopt 
that  last  rule  of  the  game  as  the  special  rule 
of  life,  and  you  will  find  it  one  of  those 
strange  impelling  rules  that  makes  obedience 
to  all  other  rules  easy  and  joyous. 


51 


A    Great    Player   in   Life's 
Bonspie! 

I  Cor.  ix:  26 


January  19th,  1896 


A  Great  Player  in  Life's  Bonspiel. 

I  therefore  so  run,  not  as  uncertainly,  so  fight  I, 
not  as  one  that  beateth  the  air. — i  Cor.  ix:  26. 

Let  me  read  the  whole  section  for  it  is  in 
this  section  we  find  the  suggestion  for  this 
morning's  sermon,  a  great  player  in  Life's 
Bonspiel. 

A  great  player  in  life's  Bonspiel  must  re- 
member he  is  one  of  many.  Know  ye  not  that 
they  which  run  in  a  race  run  alL  Life  may  be 
looked  upon  as  a  game,  a  race,  a  battle,  but  we 
are  all  in  it.  Many  contestants  crowd  the  field. 
Let  no  one  claim  a  larger  place  than  is  his 
due.  Let  no  one  claim  privileges  that  do  not 
belong  to  him.  Birth  and  blood  may  be  ac- 
cidents, or  orderings,  but  in  either  case  they 
are  opportunities  and  obligations  of  help  to 
the  poor,  the  fallen,  the  downcast.  Civiliza- 
tion has  utterly  reversed  the  Lord's  direc- 
tions. Instead  of  the  poor  worshiping  the 
rich,  the  titled,  the  aristocratic,  the  royal, 
these,  because  of  their  great  ability  and  pos- 
ition ought  to  serve  the  poor  and  the  feeble. 
He  who  would  be  great  among  you  let  him 

55 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


be  your  servant.  Do  not  crowd.  Do  not  take 
another's  place.  There  is  room  enough  for 
all,  if  you  keep  your  place  and  take  no  more 
than  belongs  to  you.  Have  a  word  of  cheer 
and  comfort  for  others  as  you  pass  along.  We 
need  more  community  of  feeling,  more  broth- 
erhood, more  of  divine  charity.  Have  feel- 
ing for  the  tramps  for  they  too  are  in  the 
race.  Have  pity  for  those  upon  whom  appe- 
tite has  laid  its  spell,  weakening  the  heart 
and  adding  weights  to  the  feet.  Have  sorrow 
for  those  who  stop  to  weep  at  a  new  made 
grave.  Have  a  heartsome  word  for  those 
who  bear  many  burdens.  I  plead  for  brother- 
hood among  all  men;  for  cordial,  affectionate 
relations  between  people  speaking  the  same 
English  tongue.  In  a  word,  I  pray  that  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus  may  be  in  all  players  in  life's 
great  Bonspiel. 

A  great  player,  in  life's  Bonspiel  will 
live  with  due  appreciation  of  the  contest  in 
which  he  finds  himself,  and  of  the  reward 
in  view.  Even  in  your  game  upon  the  ice 
you  do  not  seek  those  who  have  no  appreci- 

56 


A    GREAT    PLAYER   IN    LIFE  S   BONSPIEL. 

ation  of  the  merits  of  the  game,  and  no  par- 
ticular interest  in  its  history  and  progress. 
You  want  keen  curlers;  and  a  man's  conduct 
as  towards  your  game  is  greatly  influenced 
by  his  view  of  the  sport. 

So  in  life  a  man's  conduct  is  very  much  in- 
fluenced by  his  opinions,  by  his  view  of  things. 
What  is  your  view  of  the  great  life  of  which 
you  form  a  part  ? 

Thrown  into  life  with  no  consent  of  yours; 
whirled  like  a  leaf  on  the  wind;  driven  like  a 
ship  on  a  torrent;  ending  in  a  plunge  into  a 
deep  down  chasm;  or  projected  far  out  upon 
a  shoreless  sea;  is  that  your  view  ? 

Life  is  a  game  of  chess,  some  say,  and  men 
are  pawns,  knights,  bishops,  and  a  hand  from 
without  places  them  as  it  will,  and  though 
you  may  represent  something,  a  superior 
something  perhaps,  the  play  is  not  yours  and 
the  result  of  the  game  is  not  in  your  hands, 
and  you  have  but  to  be  moved  hither  and 
thither,  accept  the  bludgenings  of  fate  and 
the  fortune  of  the  side  you  happen  to  be  on. 
Is  that  your  view  of  life  ? 

57 


SERMONS    TO   CURLERS. 


All  is  chance.  Life  is  a  lottery,  some  say. 
Place  of  birth  is  chance.  Whether  Saxon, 
Norman,  Dane,  or  African  blood,  is  a  chance. 
Confederate  or  Unionist  is  chance.  Victory 
or  defeat  is  chance.  The  future  is  uncertain 
as  a  puff  of  wind.  And  the  grave  is  as  mean- 
ingless as  a  soap  bubble,  and  the  issues  of 
eternity  may  depend  on  a  passing  word.  Is 
that  your  view  of  life  ? 

All  men  are  liars.  Life  is  a  scheme  some 
say;  a  deep  laid  artifice.  Who  is  shrewdest? 
Cheat,  or  you  will  be  cheated.  Get  the  best 
of  others  or  they  will  get  the  best  of  you. 
Trust  nobody.  Keep  your  own  secrets.  Hear 
all  things,  tell  nothing.  Keep  your  own  heart 
hard  and  let  others  be  soft  if  they  will;  less 
hurt  for  you  and  more  for  them.  Go  jauntily 
through  the  world.  Give  no  hostages  to  for- 
tune. Die  in  perfume  and  flowers  and  with 
soft,  low  music  playing,  but  die  in  unbelief 
and  drop  into  nothingness.  Is  that  your  view 
of  life  ? 

Life  is  a  set  figure,  some  say.  Fate  is  the 
arbiter.     You  live  because  you  were  created. 

58 


A   GREAT    PLAYER   IN    LIFE'S   BONSPIEL. 


You  move  because  you  are  pushed.     You 
must  go  where  you  are  ordered.    You  must 
stand  where  you  are  put.     You  must  reach 
the  goal  which  is  set  for  you.     Free  will  is  a 
fiction   of  the  imagination.     Man   does  not 
steer,  he  is  driven.     The  tiller  was  lashed 
when  the  voyage  began.   If  fate  orders  heav- 
en, heaven  it  will  be.     If  it  order  hell,  you 
can  do  nothing  but  suffer.    A  blind,  remorse- 
less giant  is  at  the  head  of  affairs  and  we  are 
puppets  in  his  hands.  Is  that  your  view  of  life? 
Each  and   every  one  of  these  views  has 
something  in  them  that  answers  somewhat  to 
the  real  state  of  things,  and  yet   each  and 
every  one  is  essentially  false.     It  is  true  we 
were  not  our  own  parents  and  did  not  choose 
the  place  of  our  birth.     It  is  true  that  each 
one  of  us  stands  for  something  and  it  may  be 
a  superior  something,  but  are  moved  onwards 
by  a  power  that  we  cannot  resist.     It  is  true 
that  most  important  results  have  their  be- 
ginnings in  what  was  a  sportive,  foolish  whim 
at  the   first  and  chance  does  seem  to  be  a 
reality  among  us.     It  is  true  that  in  among' 

59 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


the  sober,  solid,  true  things  of  this  life  there 
runs  a  thread  of  artifice  and  fraud.   It  is  true 
that  an  element  of  fatalism  is  in  every  life, 
but  I  deny  the  deep  down  chasm  and  the 
shoreless  sea.     I   deny  that  man  is  only  a 
pawn  and  not  a  person  with  no  power  to  pro- 
ject his  own  self  upon  the  world  and  change 
the  issues  of  the  battle.     I  deny  that  indeter- 
mination  has  greater  part  to  play  in  this 
world  than  the  deliberate,  intelligent  prefer- 
ence of  men,  and  I  deny  that  eternity  is  de- 
pendent on  a  puff  of  wind.     I  deny  that  all 
men  are  liars,  and  I  would  not  die  like  the 
voluptuary,  and  in  my  creed  death  does  not 
end  all.     It  is  true  that  the  element  of  strong 
decree  is  laid  upon  stars,  and  earth,  and  men, 
but  I  deny  that  the  tiller  was  lashed  when 
the  voyage  began,  and  one  ship  drives  right 
on  jagged  rocks— another  to  peaceful  waters 
and  to  welcoming  friends. 

There  is  a  better  and  a  truer  view  of  life 
than  either  of  these.  Let  us  take  that  view. 
God  at  the  beginning.  Wise  purpose  and 
foresight  in   the  placing  of  the   individual 

60 


A    GREAT    PLAYER   IN    LIFE'S   BONSPIEL. 

Wisdom  and  almightiness  in  the  fact  that 
God  has  ordained,  not  stagnancy,  but  move- 
ment as  the  permanent  condition  for  all 
things.  We  must  on.  Whether  we  will  or 
no,  we  must  on.  We  must  make  progress 
towards  the  end.  Just  as  the  stone  after  it 
has  left  the  hand  must  on  towards  the  goal, 
so  we  must  move  on  towards  the  end.  A 
stem  necessity  drives  us  on  from  the  cradle 
to  the  grave,  but  between  these  two  points 
are  all  the  experiences  of  our  human  lot,  love 
of  home,  of  mother,  of  native  land,  of  wedded 
bride,  of  business  ventures,  of  hard  work,  of 
hard  knocks^  bitter  disappointments,  change, 
success,  perhaps  failure,  and  these  certainly 
give  us  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  all  our 
powers  in  the  way  of  preference,  loyalty,  in- 
dustry and  hope,  and  we  reach  the  goal.  Oh, 
so  different  in  personality  than  what  we  im- 
agined when  as  young  lads,  we  looked  out 
upon  life  with  great  hopeful  eyes  and  with 
hearts  yearning  to  take  great  works  into  their 
embrace,  and  with  strength  great  enough  to 
throw  the  wrestling  world.    Ah,  if  the  spir- 

6i 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


itual  man  has  arisen  in  us;  if  character  begins 
to  shape  itself  after  the  fashion  of  the  man 
Christ  Jesus;  if  in  some  way  we  find  satisfac- 
tion in  things  heavenly  and  divine;  the  thing 
has  come  to  pass  which  God  had  designed 
and  life  is  with  us  a  great  success.  We  are 
to-day  one  year  older  than  when  we  met  in 
this  house  last  year,  and  some  of  our  number 
have  finished  this  life  and  gone  to  their  re- 
ward, and  we  a  little  longer  wait,  carrying 
on  as  best  we  can  the  work  left  for  us  to  do. 
But  thank  God,  light  hath  shone  upon  us 
from  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  go  not  to 
the  grave,  to  nothingness,  and  the  dark,  but 
as  believers  in  a  risen  Lord,  we  are  marching 
off  towards  the  light,  towards  the  grandest 
strains  of  music,  towards  coronation.  We 
shall  hear  the  plaudit,  well  done  good  and 
faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of 
thy  Lord. 

This  is  the  scripture  view  of  life.  Tell  me, 
is  it  not  better  and  truer  than  those  despair- 
ing, cynical,  melancholy  views  of  which  we 
spoke.   Familiarize  yourself  with  it.    Cherish 

62 


A    GREAT    PLAYER    IN    LIFE'S    BONSPIEL. 


it.  Rejoice  in  it,  and  it  will  influence  your 
total  life  and  make  your  dying  bed  soft  as 
downy  pillows  are. 

Again,  A  great  player  in  life's  Bonspiel, 
will  not  only  have  a  true  view  of  life  as  a 
complete  picture,  but  will  be  mindful  of  all 
the  details  of  the  scene.  A  Bonspiel  on  the 
ice  is  not  only  the  contestants,  and  umpire, 
and  playing,  and  victory,  but  there  are  minor 
matters,  very  important  and  very  influential 
in  deciding  the  game,  such  as,  the  hack  in 
the  ice,  the  definitely  laid  out  game,  the  accu- 
rate measurements,  the  laws  of  the  game,  and 
withal  courtesy,  fairness,  justice  on  the 
part  of  the  contestants.  So  in  life's  great 
Bonspiel  there  are  minor  details,  small  in 
themselves,  but  important  as  bearing  upon 
the  great  result,  which  need  to  be  well  con- 
sidered and  obeyed.    Let  us  look  at  some  of 

them. 

I.  Be  mindful  of  the  slightest  moral  obli- 
gation. If  I  were  careful  to  carry  on  the 
analogy,  I  should  call  that  the  hack  in  the 
ice.    In  the  great  Olympic  games,  the  man 

63 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


who  is  going  to  take  part,  must  be  careful 
of  his  diet,  of  the  bath:  the  daily  exercise  and 
all  that  goes  to  make  up  a  perfect  physical 
system.  And  you  know  that  in  your  own 
game  of  curling,  the  game  is  not  learned  in  a 
day,  but  after  long  practice,  and  the  man 
who  wears  the  medal  is  one  who  has  steady 
nerves,  a  cool  head,  skill,  calculation,  and 
strength  timed  to  the  demands  of  the  occasion. 
At  the  foundation  all  things  are  simple. 
In  chemistry  we  have  a  few  simple  elements 
which  in  combination  make  up  all  the  mar- 
vellous results  of  the  great  science.  In  geol- 
ogy we  have  the  igneous  rocks.  In  astron- 
omy the  star  dust.  In  geometry  a  few  axioms, 
self-evident  truths.  And  so  in  morality  there 
are  a  few  simple  facts  which  must  be  re- 
garded and  obeyed  if  you  would  make  the 
whole  after-life  worthy  of  its  origin  and  its 
ending.  **  To  your  own  self  be  true."  *'  Obey 
conscience,  the  voice  of  God  in  the  soul." 
**  Be  true  to  your  intuitions."  *'  Listen  to 
the  voice  of  reason."  **  Move  in  the  God- 
stream."    "  Be  like  a  boat  to  the  current  of 

64 


A    GREAT    PLAYER    IN    LIFE  S    EONSPIEL. 

God's  will."  I  declare  unto  you,  a  man  can 
not  reach  the  heights  of  manhood  who  is  im- 
patient of  these  simple,  fundamental  truths 
of  morals. 

2.  Let  strong  assurance  of  future  and  heav- 
enly rewards  enter  your  minds  and  more  and 
more  control  it.  There  is  a  visual  line  that 
girts  us  round  and  you  know  it.  You  are  ap- 
proaching nearer  to  it  every  day  and  you 
know  it.  What  lies  beyond  that  line  ?  What 
happens  the  moment  after  death  ?  What  en- 
joyments crowd  upon  the  soul  ?  What  em- 
ployments fill  your  hands  ?  What  station  are 
you  to  occupy  ?  These  things  need  to  be 
considered  by  us  as  being  as  real  as  the  things 
we  see  about  us  in  every  day  life. 

I  would  not  have  you  think  any  the  less  of 
daily  duties,  but  I  believe  it  would  be  good 
for  manhood,  for  civilization,  if  it  were  more 
concerned  about  eternity.  I  would  have  this 
life  filled  with  all  varieties  of  activity,  but  I 
would  have  the  thought  of  eternity  doming 
it,  as  the  sky  domes  this  earth;  sometimes 
flushed  with  the  golden  colors  of  the  mom- 

65 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


ing,  anon  resplendent  with  the  glories  of  a 
dying  day,  and  every  night  the  solemn  stars 
shining  down  upon  it.  It  makes  life  all  that 
it  ought  to  be,  to  be  thus  smitten  through 
and  through  with  the  intimations  of  eternity 
and  judgment. 

Again,  live  with  a  purpose  in  view.    As 
Paul  says,  I  run  not  as  uncertainly,  so  fight  I 
not  as  one  that  beateth  the  air.    Set  not 
your  goal  too  far  ahead  of  you,  but  set  it 
ahead.    Raise  not  the  standard  so  high  as  to 
discourage  you,  but  high  enough  to  keep 
your  head  raised  to  see  it  and  all  your  powers 
at  your  best  to  attain    it.    When  you  are 
about  to  take  your  part  in  your  game  of  curl- 
ing you  do  not  set  your  foot  anywhere  and 
shut  your  eyes  and  fling  your  stone,  and  yet 
I  fear  a  great  many  men  play  the  game  of 
life  with  no  thought,  no  calculation,  no  end 
in  view.     They  run  but  do  not  know  whether 
they  are  on  the  track,  on  the  right  road  or 
not.     They  are  boxers  in  the  Olympic  games 
but  they  beat  the   air,  they  fight  shadows. 
They  are  curlers  on  the  ice,  but  do  not  know 

66 


A    GREAT    PLAYER    IN    LIFE  S   BONSPIEL, 

their  rank,  the  club  they  belong  to,  when 
their  turn  comes  to  play,  nor  where  to  fling 
the  stone.  Out  upon  such  aimlessness!  Out 
upon  such  wavering!  Better  pursue  a  mis- 
take, boldly,  courageously,  deathlessly,  as 
James  the  Fourth  of  Scotland,  who  finished 
his  Bonspiel  at  Flodden  Field  and  died  in 
glorious  defeat.  Better  far  pursue  a  true 
theory,  a  real  thing,  and  follow  it  day  by  day, 
with  prayer,  and  effort,  and  endurance  till 
God  shall  crown  you  with  his  joy.  I  do  not 
put  before  you  great  prizes  in  life's  Bonspiel. 
But  why  not  live  to  make  your  home  pleasant, 
your  wife  happy  and  your  children  glad.  Sure- 
ly that  is  an  object  well  worth  the  attention 
of  us  all.  Why  not  live  to  be  among  men  in 
business  and  society;  respected,  loved,  looked 
up  to,  surely  that  is  within  the  reach  of  us. 
Why  not  live  so  that  men  will  say,  the  neigh- 
borhood is  better  because  you  live  in  it.  A 
brave,  cheery  heart,  a  good,  honest  man,  a 
noble  citizen  and  a  believing  christian,  this  I 
think  will  fill  the  horizon  for  most  of  us. 
Another  thing.  Live  with  due  appreciation 

67 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


of  the  comparative  value  of  things.  They 
do  it,  says  Paul,  to  obtain  a  corruptible 
crown,  but  we  an  incorruptible.  Paul  could 
appreciate  things  going  on  right  around  him 
and  yet  the  full  consent  and  power  of  his 
mind  were  given  to  things  above  him.  He 
was  able  to  value  things  at  their  true  worth, 
put  them  in  their  right  place,  use  but  not 
abuse;  enjoy  but  not  be  enslaved;  conscious 
of  peril  and  yet  all  the  time  singing  the  pean 
of  victory.  That  is  right.  There  is  not  a 
thing  that  God  has  made,  but  if  you  use  it  ac- 
cording to  his  intention,  it  will  add  to  your 
felicity. 

Things  were  not  made  to  entrap,  demoral- 
ize, degrade  us;  but  to  be  so  used,  with  care- 
fulness, with  due  regard  to  higher  things, 
with  supreme  consideration  to  the  will  of  God, 
that  in  the  choice,  in  the  self-restraint,  in  the 
consideration  for  others,  the  best  qualities  of 
manhood  will  be  developed.  And,  friends, 
that  quality  of  mind  that  can  weigh  things, 
can  determine  the  value  of  things,  can  arrange 
in  orderly  way  things  according  to  their  in- 

68 


A    GREAT    PLAYER   IN    LIFE  S   BONSPIEL. 

trinsic  worth,  and  then  to  govern  yourselves 
in  accordance  with  your  own  conclusion  is 
one  of  the  noblest  characteristics  of  the  great 
player  in  life's  bonspiel.  I  keep  my  body  in 
subjection,  says  Paul.  Why  ?  Because  the 
body  was  the  least  important  part  of  his 
manhood.  He  would  make  the  body  a  daily 
sacrifice  in  order  that  He  might  be  trans- 
formed into  the  image  of  Jesus  Christ.  And 
so  with  His  mind.  He  kept  that  in  abeyance 
to  the  demands  of  His  spiritual  nature,  and 
when  God  spake  to  Him,  when  the  Holy 
Ghost  breathed  upon  Him,  He  was  as  obedient 
to  Him  as  the  flute  is  obedient  to  the  human 
breath.  And  that  is  manhood,  friends,  the 
finest  manhood,  to  be  obedient  to  God's  will, 
as  weather  vane  is  obedient  to  the  wind,  or 
soldier  to  his  commanding  officer,  or  player 
to  his  skip. 

One  more  point  and  I  am  done.  Live  with 
the  thought  in  view  that  failure  in  these  re- 
spects which  make  true  manhood  is  failure  of 
heaven.  Tremendous  consequences  follow 
our  actions  here.  You  know  better  than  I  do 

.     69 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


that  when  the  stone  is  once  thrown,  it  is 
thrown  forever;  a  segment  of  time  is  added 
on  to  eternity;  the  present  has  glided  into  the 
past;  an  act  has  been  done  that  cannot  be 
undone;  the  stone  is  gliding  to  its  resting 
place.  Learn  by  all  this  the  inevitable  re- 
sults of  human  actions  unless  some  way  be 
devised  by  which  atonement  can  be  made 
and  failure  be  lifted  into  victory.  And  I 
would  not  have  you  leave  this  house  without 
hearing  again  the  old,  old  story  that  Jesus 
was  our  substitute;  Jesus  was  our  atoning 
sacrifice;  somehow  our  faults  are  dropped 
into  His  great  forgiveness;  somehow  our  sins 
are  treated  to  the  wonderful  chemistry  of  the 
blood  and  the  guilty  stains  are  cleansed  away; 
somehow  the  condemned  sinner  is  made  into 
a  justified  saint  by  the  operation  of  God's 
grace;  somehow  the  army  of  sinners  march- 
ing down  to  punishment  with  downcast  faces 
and  beating  their  breasts,  are  transformed 
into  an  army  of  ransomed  ones,  clothed  in 
white  robes  and  singing  songs  of  victory  and 
marching  up  to  glory. 

70 


Fine  Points  in  the  Game  of 

Life 


Lev.  xix:  18 


January  loth,  1897 


Fine  Points  in  the  Game  of  Life. 

Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. — Lev. 
xix:  I 8. 

I  have  much  to  say  to  you  on  the  fine  points 
in  the  game  of  life,  and  I  will  therefore  omit 
all  introduction  and  fling  the  stone  at  once. 

I.  The  Object. — A  club,  or  association  of 
men,  or  party  that  has  not  an  object,  is  like  a 
stone  flung  anywhere  on  the  ice,  or  an  arrow 
shot  anywhere  into  the  air,  or  a  boat  launched 
without  a  tiller. 

An  object  sharpens  fellowship  to  a  point, 
and  a  company  of  men  are  thus  enabled  to 
grave  their  wishes  and  convictions  on  the 
tablet  of  their  times.  The  object  of  the  cur- 
lers club  is  to  encourage  the  game  in  which 
they  take  such  delight,  foster  brotherhood 
among  the  members  and  elevate  good  con- 
duct. 

A  man's  life  should  have  an  object  and  in- 
deed it  would  be  for  the  betterment  of  our 
total  social  condition,  if  each  and  everyone 
of  us  should  take  it  as  our  life  object  to  foster 

73 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


brotherhood  and  elevate  good  conduct.  But 
brotherhood  must  have  no  limited  definition, 
no  local  boundaries.  It  cannot  even  be  in- 
cluded in  a  national  fellowship. 

Brotherhood  that  is  worthy  of  being  the 
object  of  an  immortal  soul's  living,  must  be 
bounded  only  by  the  boundaries  of  the  human 
race.  Brother  to  every  man,  but  crony  to 
your  own  special  friend,  whatever  his  color, 
whatever  his  station,  whatever  his  religion, 
brother  in  such  a  sense,  that  you  are,  as  St. 
Paul  says,  so  to  live,  so  as  to  please  him  for 
good  unto  edification. 

And  that  I  believe  is  the  value  of  all  clubs 
and  associations  that  have  a  worthy  object. 
They  kindle  a  fire.  They  diffuse  warmth. 
They  cultivate  fellowship.  As  we  put  a  stove 
in  a  cold  room  and  light  a  fire,  it  warms  the 
whole  room,  so  associations  of  men  for  the 
cultivation  of  brotherhood  ought  to  warm  the 
general  air.  Your  heart  warms  towards  a 
man  who  is  a  curler.  Does  it  warm  towards 
a  man  who  is  not  a  curler,  but  simply  a  man? 
Oh,  believe  me,  you  miss  one  of  the  objects 

74 


FINE    POINTS   IN    THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 


of  brotherhood  if  you  do  not  feel  genial  and 
warm  towards  those  who  are  without. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  you  that  associa- 
tions of  men  who  bind  themselves  together 
and  skill  themselves  in  playing  a  game,  in 
order  to  compete  with  and  gain  the  victory 
over  other  and  like  associations  of  men,  should 
have  for  their  object  the  fostering  of  the  bro- 
therhood of  their  members.  You  might  think 
that  such  a  thing  would  tend  directly  to  fos- 
ter antipathies,  and  clannishness  and  section- 
alism. And  this  brings  us  to  look  for  a 
moment  upon  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
things  in  human  life,  upon  one  of  the  sacred 
things  of  human  life,  and  that  is,  that  honest 
division  of  feeling  between  two  men  can 
cement  true  friendship  rather  than  destroy 
it;  honest  rivalry,  conducted  in  all  fairness, 
and  in  all  justness,  brings  out  the  best  there 
is  in  man  in  the  way  of  effort  and  in  the  way 
of  brotherly  regard;  and  that  to  belong  to 
parties  that  may  be  conscientiously  opposed, 
need  not  separate  us  in  our  deep  human 
feelings. 

*75 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


Once,  during  the  war,  the  armies  of  the 
North  and  South  were  encamped  near  each 
other,  divided  only  by  an  arrow  river.  In 
the  evening  the  hum  of  the  opposing  hosts 
could  be  heard  in  the  still  air,  the  music  of 
the  rival  bands  and  the  singing  around  the 
camp  fires.  They  played  and  sang  their 
national  anthems.  The  Star  Spangled  was 
answered  by  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag,  Rally 
Round  the  Flag,  by  My  Maryland,  My  Mary- 
land, but  when  one  band  struck  up  Home, 
Sweet  Home, the  other  quickly  joined,  and  the 
two  great  armies  were  singing  together,  the 
song  that  made  them  one  in  human  feeling. 

The  objection  to  the  proposed  parade  of 
the  Blue  and  the  Gray  on  last  4th  of  July  did 
not  come  so  much  from  the  men  who  stood 
in  arms,  as  from  those  who  never  saw  a 
battle. 

There  are  many  ties  in  this  world  of  ours, 
Fetters  of  friendship  and  fetters  of  flowers, 

And  true  lover's  knots,  I  ween. 
And  the  girl  and  the  boy  are  found  by  a  kiss, 
But  there  is  never  a  kind  old  friend  like  this, 

We've  drank  from  the  same  canteen. 


76 


FINE    POINTS   IN    THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 

When  great  lawyers  finish  the  case  in  which 
they  have  put  heat  and  argument  and  all  the 
energies  of  their  nature,  they  clasp  hands 
again,  go  down  the  court  house  steps,  linked 
arm  in  arm.  Christendom  is  divided  into 
many  sects,  and  each  has  its  convictions  and 
its  worship,  but  we  are  all  one  when  we  touch 
the  sacrament,  and  are  brothers  when  we 
kneel  in  prayer  and  say,  Our  Father. 

And  I  look  for  a  higher,  holier  brotherhood 
between  the  North  and  the  South,  in  all  our 
well  beloved  country,  bye  and  bye;  for  a 
iiigher,  holier  brotherhood  between  all  the 
denominations  of  Christendom  in  our  blessed 
covenant  and  work,  bye  and  bye,  and  in  a 
universal  brotherhood,  sweet,  kindly,  mag- 
nanimous, bye  and  bye. 

2.  When  a  company  of  men  desire  to  come 
together  for  a  specific  object,  there  is  always 
one  act,  which  precipitates  the  purpose  of 
every  heart  and  a  new  association  is  born 
into  the  world.  And  I  find  that  the  payment 
of  the  initiation  fee  is  that  final  act.  A  man 
may  be  proposed  for  membership,  elected  to 

77 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


membership,  may  sign  constitution  and  by- 
laws, but  he  is  not  a  member  until  he  has 
paid  his  initiation  fee,  i.e.^  he  can  not  become 
a  member  of  the  body  without  cost  to  him- 
self, which  cost  he  is  willing  to  discharge 
again  and  again. 

The  brotherhood  of  man,  or  the  kingdom 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  not  going  to  be 
built  up  except  at  the  cost  of  each  and  every 
one  of  us.  And  strange  to  say  there  is  one 
thing  to  be  paid  over  by  each  and  every  one 
of  us,  and  that  is  self.  Somehow  a  good  and 
true  self  must  be  given  to  the  cause  of  bro- 
therhood and  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  The  . 
man  who  stands  among  his  fellow  men  and  ^ 
just  absorbs  and  absorbs  is  as  useless  as  a 
sponge.  You  cannot  make  a  curh^^ 
^ui^Qf  a  sponge,  nor  a  curler  put  of  a  spp^ge- 
_jBijj^,  nor  a  world-wide  brpthej: ,, PM .  Q^  ^ 
selfish  man.  Yon  have  iio  use  for  a  sponge- 
man  in  any;  club,  society,  church,  or  party. 
We  have  use  for  men  who  are  willing  to  be 
at  cost  for  the  sake  of  the^  cause.  How 
can  you  foster  brotherhood,  except  by  being 

78 


^t-<^ 


FINE    POINTS   IN    THE    GAME    OF    LIFE, 

in  yourself  a  brother  according  to  the  fullest 
definition  of  the  term.  How  can  you  elevate 
the  g-eneral  good  conduct  except  by  exhibit- 
ing good  conduct  everywhere.  How  can 
you  foster  the  interests  of  morality,  temper- 
ance, home,  except  by  exhibiting  temperance 
and  love  of  home  yourselves.  I  believe  that 
each  of  us  here  present  this  morning  has 
paid  the  initiation  fee  that  makes  us  members 
of  the  brotherhood  of  men  and  it  was  at  the 
same  time  pledge  of  our  loyalty,  for  there  are 
annual  dues;  a  continuation  of  the  initiation 
fee,  a  recommitment  of  ourselves  to  the  pur- 
poses of  the  order,  an  oath  again  sworn;  a 
kissing  of  the  flag,  a  bowing  at  the  cross.  We 
glorify  a  very  common-place  act  when  we 
recognize  its  higher  meaning.  And  you 
never  pay  your  club  dues,  or  your  pew  rent 
in  church,  or  subscriptions  to  the  cause  of 
charity,  but  you  recommend  yourself  to  the 
sacred  causes  these  things  are  allied  to. 

Let  us  pay  our  annual  dues  to-day  to  the 
cause  of  brotherhood  and  good  conduct,  and 
let  us  vow  quietly  and  secretly  that  we  will 

79 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


be  better  brothers  from  this  time  forth,  and 
this  year  of  '97  will  be  better  for  this  day's 
work. 

We  are  getting  down  to  the  ice.  We  are 
getting  down  to  the  real  life  of  men  as  lived 
among  men.  And  we  are  to  see  to  it,  as  far 
as  possible,  that  every  man  has  a  fair  chance 
in  life.  **  The  length  of  the  rink  the  same 
for  every  man."  The  weight  of  the  stone 
the  same  for  every  man,  or  proportionally  the 
same;  the  same  rules  of  the  game  for  every 
man,  and  no  good  curler  ever  complains  of 
rules  that  rest  upon  all;  or  of  the  directions 
of  his  skip;  and  the  same  condemnation  for 
every  man  who  is  careless  or  indifferent,  for 
the  brotherhood,  for  its  own  protection  needs 
to  show  its  severe  side  to  the  obstinate 
offender. 

And  here  I  must  confess  is  one  of  the  most 
disturbing  things  about  our  present  condition, 
the  fatality  that  pursues  some  and  the 
good  fortune  that  pursues  another.  Men  are 
so  different  in  their  general  make  up  and 
their  disposition;  they  start  in  life  in  such 

80 


FINE   POINTS   IN    THE   GAME   OF    LIFE. 

different  conditions,  some  have  great  and  ter- 
rible disadvantages  and  others,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  smiled  on  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  their  course.  With  some  it  is  a 
fight  and  struggle  all  the  way  and  with  others 
itis  smooth  seas  and  favoring  winds  from  shore 
to  shore,  and  we  are  amazed  at  the  spectacle 
of  human  life  and  we  reserve  decision  upon 
a  man's  failure  or  fall,  until  all  of  the  facts  of 
the  case  are  in.  But  one  or  two  considerations 
should  be  maintained;  viz:  i.  There  must  be 
a  greater  infusion  of  brotherly  regard  and 
charity  in  our  whole  industrial  and  social  life. 
More  brotherhood,  in  the  wide  definition  of 
the  term,  is  the  want  of  this  age.  2.  It 
should  be  the  aim  of  all  brotherhoods  to  se- 
cure a  fair  chance  for  each  to  earn  his  living, 
or  his  fortune  as  the  case  may  be,  out  of  the 
world.  If  these  conditions  are  secured  for 
them,  then  let  each  man  play  in  his  turn;  let 
him  have  an  unobstructed  course,  let  him 
have  the  help  of  friendly  brooms,  let  him  have 
the  praise  for  skill  and  strength  of  arm  and 
good  judgment,  for  his  victory  is  the  victory  of 

81 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


the  brotherhood  and  it  is  true  the  wide  world 
over,  if  it  be  considered  rightly,  that  the 
wealth,  the  good  fortune,  the  scholarship,  the 
prowess  of  one  brother,  if  these  be  rightly- 
estimated  and  rightly  used,  in  reference  to 
all,  are  the  wealth  and  richness  and  prowess 
of  the  universal  brotherhood. 

And  that  is  what  we  are  aiming  for,  that 
is  what  I  believe  society  is  rising  towards,  a 
splendid  pride  in  any  one  brother's  success, 
and  on  his  part,  a  generous  sharing  with  the 
universal  brotherhood  all  he  has  gained  of 
wealth,  or  honor,  or  spiritual  life. 

And  when  there  is  this  fair  field  and  equal 
opportunity  secured  for  all  who  play  the 
game  of  life  there  is  one  grand  consideration 
that  needs  to  be  observed,  which  I  find  put 
down  strongly  in  the  rules  for  playing  the 
game  of  curling,  viz:  *'  Do  not  mar  a  running 
stone." 

You  will  remember  that  into  that  running 
stone  a  man  has  put  all  of  himself,  his 
strength,  his  determination,  his  skill,  his 
judgment,  his  desire  for  victory.  Oh,  it  seems 

82 


FINE    POINTS   IN    THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 

to  me,  at  first  glance,  it  would  be  cruel  to 
interrupt,  or  to  attempt  to  defeat  so  honor- 
able an  effort.  No  wonder  that  your  instruc- 
tions on  this  point  are  many  and  that  con- 
demnation against  the  offender  is  severe. 

Ah,  do  you  not  see  in  this  a  symbol  of  an- 
othei  game  and  another  running  stone  ?  Do 
you  not  see  the  game  of  life,  and  a  man  doing 
his  best  for  himself  and  for  those  dependent 
on  him  ?  Do  you  not  see  that  it  is  kind,  it  is 
considerate,  it  is  manly,  to  let  a  brother,  or 
an  adversary  do  his  best  and  gain  his  prize  ? 
Do  you  not  see  that  in  the  work  of  life,  a  man 
puts  his  whole  self,  his  strength,  his  deter- 
mination, his  skill,  his  judgment,  his  desire 
for  victory  ?  Let  him  do  his  work.  Let  him 
run.  Let  him  get  near  the  prize.  It  is 
brotherly,  it  is  kind,  it  is  for  the  universal 
good  that  a  man  be  permitted  to  do  his  best. 

Oh,  there  are  many  ways  of  marring  a  run- 
ning stone.  While  the  stone  is  as  yet  in  the 
hand  of  the  player,  while  he  is  making  up  his 
mind,  while  he  is  delivering  his  shot,  you  are 
not  to  speak  improperly  to  him ;  you  are  not 

83 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


to  taunt  him,  you  are  not  to  interrupt  him ; 
i.e.^  you  are  not  to  shake  the  nerve,  for  the 
quiver  of  a  nerve  then  means  that  he  will 
loose  the  certainty  of  his  aim;  you  are  not  to 
confuse  his  mind,  for  mental  confusion  here 
means  not  clear  seeing  of  the  Tee  at  the  other 
end  of  the  ice;  you  are  not  to  distract  his  atten- 
tion, for  attention  distracted  then  means  loss 
of  the  victory  for  his  side.  In  a  word  you 
are  to  let  the  man  stand  in  the  strength  and 
grandeur  of  his  own  personality  and  do  his 
best  for  the  game  and  for  the  world.  I  would 
it  might  be  so  in  our  great  sphere  of  human 
life  !  I  do  know  men  who  have  been  injured 
and  swayed  from  their  course  because  at  the 
beginning,  some  adversary,  or  false  friend 
shook  the  budding  resolution  and  defeated 
a  noble  life.  I  have  known  a  taunt  to  so  hurt 
a  sunshiny  nature  that  all  good  resolutions 
withered  in  a  moment.  I  have  known  inter- 
ruptions, at  an  inopportune  time,  to  so  dis- 
tract and  discourage,  that  a  man  has  been 
moved  from  his  original  purpose,  and  he  was 
lost  to  a  noble  work. 

84 


FINE   POINTS   IN    THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 

And  when  the  stone  has  left  the  hand  do 
not  mar  it  as  it  runs.  Let  its  impetus  go  on 
until  it  is  spent.  Let  the  aim  reach  its  goal. 
Let  the  skill  and  the  strength  of  the  player 
be  displayed  in  the  work  accomplished. 
Help  him  by  the  aid  of  the  friendly  besoms. 
There  are  many  ways  in  which  to  mar  a  life 
aimed  well  and  running  well. 

Envy.  The  meanest  of  the  passions.  It 
is  not  a  virtue  but  a  vice.  Envy  is  at  the 
bottom  of  much  of  the  difference  between 
labor  and  capital  in  these  days.  Two  men 
born  in  the  same  town,  and  one  runs  ahead, 
succeeds;  the  other  does  not;  and  instead  of 
congratulating  his  winning  brother,  he  envies 
him  and  speaks  disparagingly  of  him. 

Oh!  Envy  hide  thy  bosom.     Hide  it  deep, 
For  a  thousand  snakes  nest  there,   and  hiss  with 
black  envenomed  mouths. 

Criticism.  That  always  finds  fault,  that 
casts  discouragement  over  the  man  himself 
and  gathers  to  a  head  shreds  of  opposition  in 
in  many  other  minds.  Criticising,  wondrous 
wise,  shaking  of  the  head,  venting  scandal 

8s 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


that  has  no  foundation;  these  things  have 
soiled  the  reputation  of  many  innocent  men, 
and  clouded  over  many  a  life's  fair  day. 

Active  opposition.  Intentional  damage. 
Men  dare  to  do  in  real  life,  what  you  would 
not  dare  to  do  on  the  ice.  You  would  not 
dare  to  put  your  broom  in  front  of  a  running 
stone;  or  knock  it  slantwise  by  a  well- 
directed  blow  from  your  own  stone.  And 
yet  men  do  this  to  one  another,  in  business, 
in  employment.  Oh!  there  is  more  of  that 
than  you  think.  Would  God  there  were  less. 
You  know  how  it  is;  some  man,  by  gifts,  and 
strength,  and  industry,  gets  a  little  ahead  of 
the  rest;  what  sneers  are  indulged  in,  what 
captious  criticism,  what  damaging  remark, 
what  scandalous  judgment.  Oh!  the  shame 
of  it.  Oh!  the  reproach  of  it  to  the  brother- 
hood. Oh!  that  it  could  all  be  put  out  of  life 
and  that  men  would  allow  freedom  to  brother 
men  to  do  the  best  they  can  for  themselves, 
always  with  the  understanding  that  the  best 
is  in  some  way  to  be  returned  to  the  general 
brotherhood. 

S6 


FINE    POINTS   IN    THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 


Of  the  fine  points  in  the  game  of  curling, 
the  one  that  interests  us  most  at  this  present 
moment,  is  the  point  of  guarding.  A  stone 
on  the  Tee  is  to  be  guarded  by  another  stone 
placed  in  such  position  that  no  stone  flung 
by  any  other  player  shall  displace  it.  And 
that  suggests  to  us,  imperilled  interests  and 
how  they  are  to  be  guarded.  And  no  one 
will  deny  that  interests  that  are  dear  and 
sacred  are  imperilled  in  these  times. 

The  Sabbath  day,  with  its  old  time  quiet, 
its  freedom     from  disquieting    sounds   and 
revelry;  its  opportunities   to   worship   God; 
its  opportunity  for  the  spirit  of  grace  and 
cleansing  to  come  down  upon  the  souls  and 
bosoms  of  men  and  wash  away  the  stains  of 
the  week,  and  to  burnish  up  the  conscience 
and  right  the  man  with  his  God.     To  whom 
shall  we  look  for  a  guard  for  the   Sabbath 
day,  sooner  than  to  old  Scotia's  sons,  to  the 
countrymen  of  John  Knox.     For  while  it  is 
true,  you  are  all  "JohnTamsen's  bairns,"  it  is 
also  true,   you   are   all    John   Knox's  sons. 
You  did  well  to  discipline  a  curler's  club 

87 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


that  went,  as  a  club,  junketing  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  defiling  your  good  name. 

And  other  things  as  well,  in  the  great  field 
of  industry,  in  the  great  sphere  of  political 
rights  and  privileges,  in  the  sacred  altitudes 
of  a  man's  right  to  govern  himself  according 
to  his  own  religious  convictions,  are  im- 
perilled. Do  you  not  need  to  put  the  guard 
stone  before  these  imperilled  interests.  And 
who  is  that  guard  stone,  but  the  man  who 
holds  his  manhood  from  God,  whose  con- 
science and  will  are  fortified  by  the  inflow  of 
the  Spirit  of  God,  who  cares  less  for  life  than 
he  does  for  Honor,  and  less  for  the  world's 
treasures  than  he  does  for  the  approbation  of 
God.  And  you  who  play  with  symbols,  are 
in  duty  bound  to  be  true  to  the  things  that 
the  symbols  symbolize;  and  every  time  you 
put  a  guard  on  the  Tee,  you  need  to  pray, 
God  make  me  a  strong  guard  in  every  day 
and  place,  for  any  sacred  interest  that  is 
imperilled. 

And  one  thing  more  I  desire  to  say  in 
closing,   and  that  is,  there  is  an   encircling 

88 


FINE   POINTS   IN    THE    GAME    OF    LIFE. 

providence,  there  is  an  enswathing  divine 
purpose,  and  the  human  race  in  the  hands  of 
God  is  but  as  a  babe  in  the  lap  of  its  mother; 
and  that  though  the  beginnings  of  life  are 
strangely  mixed  and  confused,  and  the 
struggle  of  life  is  fiercer  and  hotter  year  by 
year,  and  the  many  unworthy  ones  seem  to 
get  the  prizes,  and  many  real,  worthy  fellows, 
real  genuine  men,  but  weak  by  constitutional 
weakness,  by  inherited  deformity,  never 
make  even  the  hog  score.  I  want  to  tell  you 
that,  after  all,  the  average  is  pretty  well 
kept,  and  the  average  line  is  on  the  incline, 
and  society  is  yet  to  throw  off  its  swaddling 
bands  and  run  like  a  racer,  and  the  infelici- 
ties of  our  present  condition  are  to  fade  and 
disappear,  and  that  which  we  all  sigh  for 
shall  presently  come,  each  man  commencing 
life  with  fair  prospects,  each  man  permitted 
to  make  the  best  of  himself,  each  man  helped 
by  every  other  man,  and  all  the  acquisitions 
of  the  strong  and  successful  ones  shared  by 
the  universal  brotherhood.  And  you  will 
come  to  the  same  conclusion  if  you  will  look 

89 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


over  your  annual,  which  comes  to  us  every 
year  with  an  amount  of  useful  information 
and  pleasant  reading,  and  notice  that  while 
honors  are  not  easy,  rewards  are  quite  evenly 
distributed.  Is  not  that  a  strange  thing 
when  you  come  to  think  about  it,  that  clubs 
of  men  who  are  competing  every  year  on  the 
ice  or  on  the  Quoiter's  field,  share  their  vic- 
tories whether  they  will  or  no.  It  is  true, 
wherever  games  are  played.  It  is  true  in  the 
great  life  of  which  we  form  a  part. 

The  rewards  of  life  are  pretty  evenly 
shared.  In  monarchical  countries,  where 
rank  protects  itself  by  law  and  statute,  men 
hold  on  to  their  positions  with  desperate 
clutch.  Aristocracy  has  had  a  long  innings, 
but  its  day  draws  to  a  close,  and  the  masses 
and  the  middle  classes  are  to  have  theirs. 
God  make  it  a  better  day  than  the  past,  fuller 
of  wisdom  and  kindness  and  Christianity. 

ki  republics,  where  opportunities  are  open 
to  all,  the  change  of  conditions  is  more 
rapid;  one  side  does  not  hold  the  medal  so 
long;  the  man  on  top  to-day  is  on  the  decline 

90 


FINE   POINTS   IN    THE    GAME   OF   LIFE. 

to-morrow.  Victories  are  now  with  one  and 
then  with  another,  and  real  strength  and 
skill  have  a  chance  to  assert  themselves,  but 
— and  this  is  the  great  value  of  generous 
rivalry — the  best  comes  to  the  top  and  the 
whole  world  is  better  therefor.  I  believe 
we  can  take  a  lesson  from  this,  and  that 
lesson  is,  trust  in  the  Almighty  God  and 
Heavenly  Father^  and  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself. 


91 


Theology  of  Curling 


Rom.  ix:   i6 


January  i6th,   1898 


Theology  of  Curling. 

So  then  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of 
him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  sheweth  mercy. — 
Rom.  ix:  i6. 

A  Scotchman  is  naturally  a  theologian. 
Therefore  I  dare  to  speak  to  you  this  morn- 
ing upon  Theology  of  Curling.  And  a  curl- 
ing Scotchman,  who  is  not  a  theologian  has 
missed  one  of  the  sweetest  things  of  his  life. 
For  just  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  delightful 
exercises  of  the  mind,  to  look  up  from  a  sym- 
bol to  the  thing  symbolized,  to  see,  for  in- 
stance in  the  alpha  and  omega  on  the  wall  in 
front  of  you,  Jesus  Christ,  the  beginning  and 
the  end,  so  it  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
things  about  your  game  of  curling,  to  see 
how  many  features  of  it  point  to  a  higher 
and  spiritual  truth. 

I  have,  on  previous  occasions,  spoken  to 
you  on  the  symbology  of  curling.  My  ex- 
ample in  all  this  is  the  apostle  Paul,  who 
made  the  sports  of  the  Olympic  games,  illus- 
trations at  least  of  experiences  in  the  chris- 
tian life.  I  have  spoken  to  you  of  Christian- 
PS 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


ity  and  curling,  and  their  points  of  analogy. 
I  have  spoken  to  you  of  the  game  of  life,  of 
the  fine  points  in  the  game  of  life,  of  the 
good  player  in  life's  Bonspiel,  and  I  conclude 
the  series  this  morning  by  speaking  to  you 
of  the  Theology  of  curling.  It  is  not  of  him 
that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  nor  in 
the  great  contest  of  life,  it  is  not  altogether 
of  him  that  stands  well  braced  in  the  ice  and 
delivers  his  stone  with  practiced  aim,  but  of 
God  that  sheweth  mercy. 

I  want  to  call  your  attention  first  of  all  to 
the  great  revelation  of  the  text,  that  back  of 
all  human  life,  with  its  strifes  and  competi- 
tions, its  joys  and  its  griefs,  its  games  and  its 
.triumphs,  its  efforts  and  its  defeats,  there  is 
a  personal  God,  who  holds  within  the  com- 
pass of  his  vision  and  within  his  manipula- 
tion, all  things  that  are.  And  what  is  more 
to  the  purpose.  He  is  a  kindly  God.  He  is  a 
God  that  sheweth  mercy.  You  believe  in 
God,  do  you  not  ?  But  what  kind  of  a  God 
do  you  believe  in  ?  Let  me  emphasize  before 
you  this  morning  that  He  is  a  kindly  God. 

96 


THEOLOGY    OF    CURLING. 


He  is  a  God  that  sheweth  mercy.  We  all 
need  to  know  that.  If  you  are  a  sinner  and 
have  violated  God's  laws  and  sinned  against 
His  tenderness,  you  need  to  know  it. 

It  is  very  easy  for  men  who  have  health, 
and  success  and  victory  to  believe  in  a  kindly 
God,  but  the  man  who  is  sick,  and  beaten  and 
stripped,  needs  much  more  to  know  it  and  to 
rest  in  it,  and  to  leave  himself  and  his  sorely 
troubled  heart  in  His  gentle  care,  believing, 
not  only  there  is  explanation,  but  recompense 
somewhere.  Kindliness  is  at  the  heart  of 
things.  Long  suffering  is  at  the  heart  of 
things.  Self  denial  is  at  the  heart  of  things. 
Prof.  Drummond  showed  that  in  his  last 
book,  the  Ascent  of  Man.  God  is  on  the  side 
of  humanity.  That  is  a  primal  fact  and  all 
other  doctrines  must  be  arranged  according 
to  it.  I  would  as  soon  believe  a  skip  would 
govern  his  men  and  his  game  against  the 
best  interests  of  curling,  as  I  would  believe 
that  God  would  take  sides  against  the  creat- 
ures of  his  own  love  and  care;  and  that  con- 
ception of  God  does  not  shut  out  punishment 

97 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


for  sin  and  discipline  for  offenders,  but 
makes  them  the  agents  for  carrying  out  a 
loving  purpose. 

2.  There  is  more  in  human  life  than 
human  effort.  Something  in  life  over  and 
above  human  effort.  You  did  not  play  the 
game  for  the  Dalrymple  medal  last  winter. 
Why  not  ?  The  day  was  set.  The  medal 
was  ready.  The  game  was  called.  Why 
was  not  the  game  played  ?  The  weather  pre- 
vented. There  was  something  to  be  taken 
into  account  over  and  above  all  your  plan- 
ning and  arrangements.  It  is  only  an  illus- 
tration of  something  that  is  occuring  in  the 
great  life  of  the  world  and  in  the  individual 
life  as  well,  all  the  time.  Sovereigns  may 
partition  Europe,  but  God  must  be  reckoned 
with  sooner  or  later.  And  the  boundaries  of 
kingdoms  will  be  drawn  by  the  finger  of  God. 
Men  may  plan,  and  scheme  and  labor,  but  God 
has  something  to  say  about  every  man's  life. 

That  celebrated  phrase  maker,  Matthew 
Arnold,  defined  God  as  the  Eternal  that 
makes  for    righteousness.     It    is    a    grand 

98 


THEOLOGY    OF    CURLING. 


phrase.  If  he  had  put  in  it  the  personal  ele- 
ment, and  called  Him  the  personal  God,  the 
almighty  and  heavenly  Father  that  makes 
for  righteousness,  we  could  have  accepted, 
with  thanks,  the  definition.  What  follov/s 
then?  If  God  is  a  god  who  makes  for  right- 
eousness, then  the  life  that  makes  for  right- 
eousness with  all  its  might,  runs  coincident 
with  God  and  will  have  the  aid  of  God,  and 
all  that  is  over  and  above  human  effort  will 
be  on  his  side.  And  the  contrary  is  also 
true,  the  life  that  makes  for  unrighteousness 
and  many  a  life  does,  will,  sooner  or  later, 
run  up  against  the  thick  bosses  of  Jehovah's 
bucklar.  That  means  the  defeat  of  unright- 
eousness, and  such  defeat  is  better  for  a  man 
than  victory.  Take  Jehovah  into  account  in 
all  your  planning.  Do  not  be  ashamed  to 
kneel  and  say,  Lord  show  me  Thy  will.  Do 
not  be  ashamed  to  confess  that  you  consult 
the  unknown  reserves  of  God's  mind  in  all 
your  planning.  Some  one  said  to  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  if  such  a  thing  had  happened,  and 
if  such  another  thing  had  not  occurred,  the 

99 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


issue  of  Waterloo  had  been  different.  The 
Duke  of  Wellington  calmly  replied:  "  I  had 
supposed  in  the  science  of  war  all  these  prob- 
abilities were  taken  into  account."  If  you 
would  have  your  life  run  straight  and  true  to 
the  Tee,  take  into  your  account  all  the  acces- 
sories of  life  and  especially  what  God  would 
have  you  be  and  do.  Life  will  be  a  failure 
if  you  do  not  regard  God's  will  in  regard 
to  it. 

3.  The  God  who  showeth  mercy  has  an 
hour  by  hour  supervision  of  the  struggle  of 
human  beings  in  this  great  world. 

God  is  merciful  at  every  point  of  the  his- 
tory of  your  life,  if  you  will  but  see  it  and 
accept  of  it.  I  refer  you  to  a  well  known 
fact  in  your  game  of  curling,  that  the  general 
interests  of  curling  needs  and  hr.:  a  super- 
vision, and  that  each  particular  game  of  curl- 
ing has  that  same  supervision.  Is  not  that 
so  ?  Enlarge  that  idea  of  needed  supervision 
until  it  takes  in  the  human  race,  human  his- 
tory, the  universe,  all  created  intelligences, 
eternity,  and  you  reach  the  almighty  and  all- 

100 


THEOLOGY   OF   CURLING. 


wise  supervision  of  God.  And  the  man  who 
denies  it,  or  contests  it  is  like  a  near-sighted 
man  who  sees  an  object  right  at  hand  and 
accepts  it,  but  unable  to  see  a  similar,  though 
enlarged  object  further  off,  refuses  to  accept 
it.  And  that  is  a  folly  many  men  are  guilty 
of. 

But  it  shall  not  be  so  with  curlers  who  are 
so  deeply  in  love  with  their  noble  game  as  to 
accept  all  its  symbology  and  its  teachings. 
Shall  we  accept  this  morning  anew  and  as 
never  before  God's  supervision  ?  And  re- 
membering the  fact  already  discovered  that 
God  is  a  kindly  God,  shall  we  believe  His 
supervision  is  a  kindly  supervision  ?  And 
shall  we  see  wrapped  round  the  individual 
life  that  kindly  supervision  and  accept  its 
teachings  and  its  guidance  ?  And  shall  we 
enlarge  our  vision  and  see  wrapped  round  the 
great  human  family  that  same  kindly  super- 
vision and  locate  within  its  plan,  favored 
America,  favored  England,  struggling 
France,  suffering  Armenia,  the  cause  of  lib- 
erty in  Russia  slowly  emerging  into  the  light 

lOI 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


of  day,  and  all  things,  all  things  bitter  and 
sweet,  welcome  and  distasteful  ? 

The  theology  that  left  out  of  its  system  an 
explanation  of  these  untoward  and  forbidding 
things  of  life  would  indeed  be  a  scrimped 
and  narrow  and  cowardly  theology.  The 
charge  could  be  maintained  against  it.  that  it 
did  not  dare  to  face  the  difficult  problems  that 
trouble  the  thoughts  of  men.  Yes,  all  the 
while  the  man  is  willing  and  all  the  while  the 
man  is  running  God  is  shewing  mercy.  That 
kindly  something  that  is  over  and  above  all 
human  effort  is  in  operation  over  every  foot 
of  life's  stadium.  Yes,  all  the  while  the  man 
is  willing  and  all  the  while  the  man  is  run- 
ning, that  kindly  supervision  is  around  and 
over  the  life,  and  the  man  is  wise  who  looks 
to  it  and  interrogates  it.  Believe  it,  oh,  my 
brothers  ! 

I  look  at  your  game  of  curling  and  I  read 
your  books  upon  curling — the  carefully  laid 
out  rink,  the  well  defined  lines  of  the  game, 
its  rules  and  regulations,  and  as  I  have  here- 
tofore shown,  these  are  suggestive,  not  only 

102 


THEOLOGY   OF   CURLING. 


of  supervision,  but  of  interjection  of  author- 
itative will  in  upon  your  plans. 

I  have  seen  a  stone  swept  off  the  ice  be- 
cause it  was  poorly  or  carelessly  played  and 
in  the  way.  And  some  men  are  like  that 
poorly  played  stone.  They  are  in  the  way. 
They  are  swept  aside  to  make  room  and 
clean  field  for  others.  Someone  has  the 
right  according  to  the  rules  of  the  game  to 
order  a  stone  off  the  ice,  and  you  who  ac- 
knowledge that  right  in  your  healthy  game, 
must  not  deny  it  in  the  larger  business  of 
human  life. 

I  have  seen  a  game  almost  won,  lost  at  last 
to  the  opposite  side,  by  a  wonderfully  skillful 
play  of  the  last  stone;  and  while  you  take 
defeat  with  sad  hearts,  you  cannot  refuse  a 
tribiite  of  praise  to  your  opponent's  skill  or 
luck,  and  would  to  God  there  were  more  of 
friendliness  about  defeat  and  victory  in  the 
weightiest  interests  of  human  life. 

I  have  known  a  slip  at  the  start  throw  a 
stone  clear  askew,  but  the  player  was  not 
allowed  to  take  it  back. 

103 


SERMONS    TO   CURLERS. 


I  have  known  a  crisis  of  the  game,  victory 
or  defeat  depending  on  a  last  stone,  and  it 

was^ thrown,  JyjJ; ..it. 4-14  T^P^-^o  ^fe|fi»>¥i^- 
expected  of  it,  but  the  player  was  not  allowed 
Jo^try  again.  In  all  our  games  and  contests  we 
make  but  little  provision  for  a  second  chance, 
and  no  provision  for  retrieving  mistakes. 

When^a^  stone  is  thrown^  it  is  thrown;  it 
must  run  its  course,  and  thaj.i^.tl^§^i?.^^9|4i^*i 
There  is  no  redemption  in  curling.  Neither 
is  there  in  nature  for  that  matter.  The 
dead  silence  of  nature  upon  the  subject  of 
redemption  is  appalling.  All  that  we  learn 
in  nature  is  that  things  go  on  in  rectilinear 
lines  to  their  terminus.  The  boulder  startj4 
down  the, incline  goes  to  the  bottom.  The 
star  falling  from  its  sphere  falls  forever. 
The  twig  is  bent,  the  tree  is  inclined.  A  wound 
ixjL  th^-  tree  is  a  scar  for  all  the  tree's  life. 
There  is  no  gospel  in  nature  except  for  sin- 
less beings. 

We  have  then  in  curling  no  symbol  that 
teaches  redemption.  There  is  no  dispensa- 
tion of  grace;  no  undeserved  favor  towards 

104 


THEOLOGY    OF    CURLING, 


offenders,  in  curling!  Where  shall  we  go  to 
find  a  truth  most  important,  most  necessary 
for  faulty  creatures,  men  who  have  made 
mistakes,  have  made  slips  and  falls  ? 

The  poet,  Dante,  in  his  great  poem, 
"  Divina  Commedia,"  descends  into  Hades, 
into  Hell,  and  under  the  guidance  of  the  be- 
loved Beatrice  enters  the  abode  of  the 
blessed,  and  is  able,  out  of  his  exuberant 
imagination,  to  find  analogy,  picture,  symbol, 
interpretation  for  all  things  in  Heaven  and 
in  Earth;  but  at  last  he  came  to  the  cross  of 
Jesus  and  Christ  upon  the  cross,  and  the  idea 
of  God's  mercy  and  grace  and  forgiving  love 
was  so  high,  so  deep,  so  tender,  that  even  his 
tremendous  imagination  failed  to  compre-, 
hend  it,  and  he  exclaims,  with  a  glad  sadness 
"And  pattern  fails  me  now." 

I  have  reached  a  point  in  all  our  interpreta* 
tion  of  your  game,  where  I  can  find  nothing 
to  help  me,  to  make  vivid  before  you  the 
more  important  truth  of  Christianity;  aye, 
even  the  essential  truth  of  Christianity,  viz., 
the  gospel  of  another  chance,  the  gospel  of 


SERMONS    TO    CURLERS. 


commencing  over  again  in  new  and  improved 
conditions,  the  gospel  of  retrieving  of  errors, 
the  gospel  of  a  forgiven  past.  And  yet  that 
is  gospel  that  you  and  I  need  most  to  hear. 
Go  back  from  your  game  of  curling  to  your 
Bibles.  The  Bible  alone  contains  the  story 
of  how  God  deals  with  men  in  the  dispensa- 
tion of  grace. 

The  Bible  teaches  usJtie^gpspel.o|^ajlQ;t^e£w. 
chaiiQe.  I  believe  tliat .  i§^opd  news.ta  thi^,. 
world.     IJo.w  maay  .qI  us  AYi?^^  could  ^ 

live  our  lives  oyer  again!  How  many  of  us 
looking  back  can  see  where  we  deflected 
from  the  true  line!  How  many  of  us  can 
put  our  fingers  on  the  mistake  whose  conse- 
quences we  suffer  under  even  now. 

Is  there  no  forgiveness  ?  Must  we  go 
right  on  forever  on  our  deflected  path  ?  Is 
there  no  way  of  getting  right  with  God  and 
starting  over  again  ?  Yes!  by  the  grace  of 
God,  right  now,  this  moment,  any  moment  if  a 
man  will,  he  can  get  right  with  God,  and  put 
his  life  on  the  incline  and  graduate  into 
glory. 

1 06 


THEOLOGY    OF    CURLING. 


The  Bible  gives  us  the  story  of  the  Potter 
and  the  clay,  and  that  the  Potter  has  the 
power  to  make  one  vessel  to  honor,  and  an- 
other to  dishonor.  But  we  also  learn  that 
he  takes  the  marred  vessel  and  makes  it  over 
again;  makes  of  it  the  very  best  vessel  he 
can.  Oh!  life  marred,  by  what  cause  soever, 
by  others  fault,  or  your  own  folly;  put  your- 
self into  the  Potter's  hand  and  He  will  make 
you  a  vessel  fit  for  the  palace  of  the  King. 

The  Bible  tells  us  the  story  of  redeeming 
love.  Presbyterians  make  much  of  the 
sovereignty  of  God.  But  many  of  them  miss 
the  point  of  the  sovereignty.  God  declares 
again  and  again  His  sovereignty,  for  this 
purpose,  that  He  has  the  right  and  the  power 
to  show  mercy  upon  all,  to  inaugurate  and 
carry  out  a  dispensation  of  grace,  and  no  one 
can  stop  His  purpose  or  His  plan.  He  has 
included  us  all  under  sin,  that  He  might 
show  mercy  on  all.  We  live  in  a  dispensa- 
tion of  grace,  undeserved  favor  shown  only 
towards  offenders.  That  truth  is  taught 
nowhere  in  the  wide  universe,  but  in  the 

107 


SERMONS   TO   CURLERS. 


Bible.  It  is  revelation;  Blessed  be  God  for 
that  revelation.  Let  us  praise  the  Father  for 
it,  and  accept  Him  whose  life  and  sufferings 
made  it  possible,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  who 
works  it  into  our  beings. 


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